Forward Motion
by Japhith
Summary: One year after the events of 'Falling Up' the Titans must face new challenges in their romantic lives, as well as in their crime fighting lives. Rated for language, adult themes, and Speedy's homophobia.
1. Chapter 1

Forward Motion

A Teen Titans Fan Fiction by Jacob McDonald

Opening Notes: This story is a sequel to the three chapter 'Falling Up.' While it is designed to be a stand alone piece, I highly recommend reading that one before this one. Following the format I set myself in the last story, this one will also have three chapters, but it will cover a much wider range of time. Enjoy.

Standard disclaimers apply. I don't own Teen Titans, because my girlfriend tells me I watch too many cartoons as it is.

* * *

Chapter One: Stalled Out

* * *

Dick Grayson walked across the massive expanse of floor that was the ballroom of Wayne manner, wading through the crowd of socialites and influential people from around the world. Bruce was having a New Years gala, and he had been expected to attend, so of course he had flown home to Gotham for the evening. He'd leave for Jump again in the morning, and be back in his cape by that afternoon, but for now he was simply Dick Grayson.

He still recalled the phone conversation that he'd had with Alfred when the old butler had passed on Bruce's wishes for him to attend the party. They'd chatted and caught up on old times, and at the end, Alfred had dropped the bomb.

_"Master Bruce and I would also like to see you bring a date, Master Richard. Please have a female companion with you when you arrive."_

It hadn't been a request, or a suggestion. It had been an order. Bruce wanted to keep up appearances, and Dick Grayson not acting like the playboy his guardian had taught him to be would look odd. Dick had to be as far away from Robin as possible, no questions asked.

But Dick had never been one to listen to what Bruce wanted, pointing out that the man seldom wanted what was best for him or anyone else. He didn't have much use for his identity as Dick Grayson out in Jump, and his team didn't seem to mind that he hardly ever took off the mask.

So he'd asked _her_ to come with him.

She had seemed shocked at first, then had accepted with the same grace that she'd shown in countless other tasks throughout the time they'd known each other.

As he approached her where she stood on the balcony, looking out at the snow falling lightly in the darkened garden, he couldn't help but appreciate her beauty. Her black gown was slinky and left most of her back exposed, dipping low in the front as well to reveal the sides of her breasts which threatened to fall out of it at a moments notice. Her long neck was visible now that she'd pulled her violet hair up, which she'd dyed black for this occasion. The red jewel set into her forehead glinted in the half light that shrouded the balcony.

The perfect lighting for the dark beauty.

"Getting some air?" he asked softly as he stepped out next to her. She turned her head and glanced at him.

"Getting away from you. You flirt too much."

"I have to here. I'm a playboy, remember?"

"You've always flirted too much."

"Hey now... that's so not true..." he tried to sound offended, but couldn't really work up the energy to argue, "I hate having to act like this." Taking off his coat, he slipped it around her shoulders.

"Thanks." she mumbled, and pulled it tighter around herself, facing away from him, "You know, even back in Jump, you always make eyes at other girls."

"I guess. I only ever love you though."

She nodded, and they were silent for a time. After a moment, she sighed, "Why'd you ask me to come to this thing, Dick? I hate all those people in there, acting all high and mighty because they're rich and powerful, and warranted a invitation to Bruce Wayne's New Years Party."

"I thought you might enjoy it, and I needed a date." he scowled, "Sorry, guess I misread you again."

"You're always misreading me. I really don't expect to ever get it right."

"There you go again! I mean, emotional repression is one thing, Rae, but do you have to add sarcasm and spite to every word you speak to me?"

"Do you have to always take things so personally? Do you always have to have such a huge ego to bruise?"

"This is a pointless conversation." Dick threw his hands up, "I'm going to go find Bruce. At least talking to him is more like a brick wall. He doesn't talk back."

"You do that."

"Can I have my coat back?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I'm cold."

"So? Go get your own coat. You know where Alfred stashed them."

"No."

"Give it here, Rae."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Damnit Rae! Stop being a bitch!"

"Stop being a pompous ass."

He growled, "Ice queen."

She didn't even blink, "Ego laden jerk."

His eyes narrowed, "Emotional cripple."

Her eyes narrowed, "Muscle head."

"Whore."

"Slut."

And they grabbed each other and crushed their mouths together, kissing and exploring one another's bodies as if the world was ending in ten seconds.

The chanting from inside counted down from that ten seconds, to one, and the two Titans continued to make out for the first several minutes of the new year.

* * *

_"Three!" _the crowd in Steel City chanted in the middle of the cities largest park.

Bumble Bee zapped one of the ski mask wearing men robbing the electronics store across from the park while there was no one around.

_"Two!"_

Cyborg hurled another of the looters into the side of their get away truck, and then turned his sonic cannon on the last one, who was fleeing the scene.

_"One!"_

The two Titans turned to each other and grinned. Bumble Bee leapt into Cyborg's arms, and they kissed passionately as the crowd cheered, _"Happy New Year!"_

* * *

Starfire pulled back from Beast Boy where they stood in Jump City Central Square. They smiled warmly at each other and then shared another quick kiss as the large crowd around them began singing.

"Let's get back to the Tower." Best Boy said into her ear over the loud singing, "Robin wanted us to keep track of things while he and Raven were out of town, and now that Cy's gone, there's bound to be something for us to do."

"Of course." Star gave him a megawatt smile, and they both flew up into the night sky, her with a soft tinkling noise, and he in the form of a falcon. Cheers from the crowd below followed them half way to the Tower.

* * *

Two hours into the new year found Dick propped up on one elbow in bed, watching Raven as she sat at a vanity in one of the manors many rooms. He was still naked, covered to the waist in expensive sheets, but she was wearing his dress shirt, attempting to brush the kinks out of her hair.

"You're such a brute, Dick. I have no idea how you mess my hair up so much."

"It's a talent."

She finally sat the brush down and sighed at her reflection. She'd have two new hickys in the morning, "We shouldn't have done this again..."

Dick nodded, "It really sucks that the best sex is always make up sex." she glanced at him, and he elaborated, "Because it's always proceeded by the fighting."

"Yes, well, we certainly fight enough."

"I guess that's why we've always had such great sex, huh?"

"No," Raven shook her head as she stood up and gathered her discarded dress and heals, "That's why we broke up in the first place." he sobered up as she leaned over him and planted a light kiss on his forehead with a sad smile, "I'll see you in the morning, Dick." and she left the room.

* * *

The next day found Dick sitting at the breakfast table in Wayne Manor, reading the newspaper and sipping coffee. Alfred set a tray of waffles down in front of him, and pushed the paper down to look him in the eye, "Eat, Master Richard. You've been avoiding my cooking ever since you arrived two day ago." the aged butler arched an eyebrow, "You don't remember it as being that horrible, do you?"

Dick smiled, "Heck no, Alf. Just... preoccupied is all."

"A tendency you share with Master Bruce." Alfred shook his head, "Eat." he ordered.

With a sigh and a light grin, Dick sat aside the newspaper and helped himself to a plate of waffles. As he was drenching them in syrup, Bruce walked in and sat down at the other end of the eight person table. "You left the party early last night." he commented as Alfred swooped down on him with a plate and orders to eat.

"Yeah, Rae and I had some stuff to talk about."

"Uh huh." Bruce nodded with a straight face, "Stuff."

Dick narrowed his eyes, "What exactly are you insinuating, Mr. Wayne?"

"Nothing much at all, Mr. Grayson. Just that you brought that young woman up to one of the guest rooms last night and had relations with her for several hours before she left you for her own chambers." Dick's mouth dropped open, "Is there something you want to tell me, Dick?"

"Were you like, standing outside the door or something?" Dick demanded, "Jesus Bruce! Pry into my personal life a bit more, why don't you!"

"You know perfectly well that every room in the manor has security cameras." Bruce leveled a glare at him, "I didn't watch, but I did check the time stamps."

"When did you find time to review the security footage from last night? Have you even slept yet?"

Bruce ignored him, "I thought the two of you were 'just friends.'"

"We _are_." Dick looked away and mumbled, "We broke up almost four months ago."

"So you were dating her." Bruce frowned, "For how long?"

"Almost a year."

"And you didn't tell me why?"

"Didn't know it was a requirement of the job."

"It's not. But I'm your guardian Dick. I'm your friend."

Dick glared up at him, "Which is why you chased me out of the cave, right?"

"You left of your own volition."

"You were smothering me and you know it!"

The door to the hallway opened and Raven stepped into the room, wearing a light blue top, dark jeans and no socks. Just as she entered, Bruce replied to Dick, "I was trying to protect my city! You were getting too rebellious!"

Raven turned and started to walk back out.

"I was fifteen!" Dick shouted back at Bruce, standing up, "Of course I was rebellious! Just because you didn't know jack shit about raising a kid doesn't make it my fault you freaked out! _And don't you go anywhere just yet, Raven!"_

Raven paused, almost out the door, and cursed silently. Turning back around, she glared, "What?"

"I just thought you might want to know that Bruce has security footage of us having sex last night. I'll take you to the cave so we can destroy it."

Raven looked over at Bruce, "Don't get out of the cowl much, do you?" she looked disgusted.

"Wait a second! Dick's making it sound worse than it is!"

"I bet." Raven turned on her heel and marched off, "Dick! Show me where the cave is!"

"Coming." Dick threw a nasty smile at Bruce, then hurried after his ex-girlfriend.

* * *

Bumble Bee walked stiffly into the kitchen at Titans Tower East wearing a fluffy, light yellow bathrobe with matching slippers, and immediately staggered to the coffee maker, "Sweet... life giving... caffeine..." she murmured as she poured a mug.

Speedy was flipping pancakes, wearing a white apron and a chefs hat that had little crossed arrows embroidered into it at his forehead. He looked ridiculous. "The hydraulic penis extension strikes again, eh?"

Bee turned and hurled a salt shaker at him. He dodged it deftly and came up grinning, "Thought so."

"Shut up, Roy."

"Seriously though," Speedy turned to a bowl and started mixing more batter, "You and Cy are getting pretty serious, aren't you?"

"I guess. We never really officially started 'dating' but we've been seeing each other every month for at least a few days at a time for the past year now..." she shrugged, "It's a long distance thing with him in Jump and me out here, but it works for us."

"I guess so." Speedy shrugged, "You're twenty in two months, aren't you?"

"Yep."  
"And Vic turned twenty this past year..."

"Your point?"

"I hear wedding bells." Speedy smirked at her and ducked to avoid the pepper shaker that came his way a second later, "Seriously! You two are good for each other! I don't see why not!"

"You're a jerk, Roy. Get a life and stop prying into mine." she huffed as she stalked over to the main computer, fluffy robe wafting about her shins and coffee spilling out of the large mug she toted.

She sat down and brought up the City Security Report for the night before, but only got a few sentences in before Speedy was standing next to her again, still mixing batter, "Come on, Karen..." he said in a serious tone that was upset by the fact that he was wearing a white apron over his uniform and mixing pancake batter, "I've lived with you for almost three years now, and I'd like to think I know your moods. Talk to me."

She sighed and closed out of the report. Turning to him she took a sip of her coffee and looked up at his masked visage, "Vic and I _are_ getting serious, but I don't know if I could leave the team for our relationship to go to that next level." she shook her head, "He's important to me, and really, I'm scared to death that he might pop the question soon."

"Hey, if he does," Speedy winked at her with a grin, "say yes. I can lead the team just fine, and the two of you could head off to Metropolis or somewhere and start a life. There's tons of young heroes out there that would _love_ to be Titans..." he smiled a bit more gently, "Not that you're really replaceable, but we'd make due."

She smiled back up at him, "I'll think about it." Standing up, she punched his arm lightly, "You're an alright guy, Roy."

"Yeah, I can be." he grinned again, "Now go get Cy and the speedy wonder twins up... Garth isn't back yet, but I have no qualms about starting breakfast without him!"

* * *

Starfire sat up in bed and stretched her arms over her head. With a yawn and a smile, she looked over at Beast Boy, who was curled up under her purple sheets still.

"Wake up, Garfield. It is time to check the reports from last night and then start training."

Beast Boy grumbled something into the pillow he was laying on, then turned over to glare at her, "It's New Years Day, Kori. Can't we sleep in at least once?"

"I allowed you to sleep in at Christmas, and also the day after Thanksgiving." she pointed out, "There is no special significance to this day, aside from it being the first of the year. Is this not the time to begin anew, with many promises for self improvement?"

Beast Boy grunted, "My only New Years Resolution is to beat Cy in Mega-Super-Monkey-Kung-Fu-Slam-Fest-Seven." he rattled off the ridiculously long name of the video game without batting an eye, even though he was still half asleep.

"Well, _my_ resolution is to make sure you get up on time each day, and to help you train yourself into a more effective crime fighter."

"Good luck with that." Beast Boy rolled back over.

Starfire smiled slyly, "Did I wear you out too much last night?" she asked, "While it is true Tameranians posses much higher levels of strength and stamina than humans, you have always managed to keep up in the past. Perhaps we should not have as much sex as we normally do."

Beast Boy vaulted out of bed, "Whew, buddy! I am so freakin' awake right now! Hey Star, you wanna start training as soon as possible?"

Star grinned, "Actually, I think I would like to make love to you once more before we venture to the kitchen for our breakfast. We can then begin our training."

"Oh." he smiled back at her, "Okay!" and he pounced on her, tackling her to the bed while she giggled.

* * *

"By Azar..." Raven squinted at the screen, "I didn't know I could bend my leg like that..."

"Hell, I didn't know I could bend _my_ leg like that..." Robin squinted as well, and both of them were silent as they listened to the sounds of passion coming through the speakers.

"This system has some great sound pick up. Bruce really didn't spare any expenses, did he?" Raven reached over to Robin and grabbed a handful of popcorn out of the bowl on his lap.

"Well, he _is_ one of the richest men in the world..." Robin blinked, "Oh, wait... this is my favorite part..." they both leaned in with identical grins as the Robin on the screen suddenly grabbed the Raven on screen and lifted her around her shoulders picking her up off her back and supporting her under her legs while he continued to work.

"Damn..." Raven leaned back and fanned herself, "Okay, three times is enough, Dick. Let's destroy this damn thing."

"Sure." Robin threw her a silly grin and popped the tape out of the recorder. He handed it to her and pointed to an incinerator across the cave, then set about deleting the digital copies of the tape stored on the computer.

With the hard copy and the digitals destroyed, the two of them sat in silence for a few moments, eating the rest of the popcorn and sipping the soda they'd brought down with them. Bruce had been avoiding the cave all day, wanting to stay out of the way of the two upset teens, so they didn't really worry about him coming down to find them eating and drinking around the super computer.

Raven broke the silence first, "We should really stop." she said with a sigh.

"I know." Robin nodded, "We broke up for a reason."

Raven fidgeted for a moment, then burst out, "But the sex is so damn good!" she threw her hands up, "When did I become such a horn ball? Damn it all!"

Robin chuckled, "Well, if it helps any, I think we have great sex too, and it has only been what? Six times since we broke up?"

"We only broke up four months ago!" Raven shoved his shoulder lightly with a scowl, "That's two and a half times a month!"

"How do you have half of a sexual encounter?"

"Quicky." she responded without blinking.

Robin nodded, "Guess so. Wanna have a half of a sexual encounter up in my bedroom?" he waggled his eyebrows at her.

"God, yes." she almost smiled, "But we _can't_."

"Why not?" Robin slumped back, and waved a hand absently, "It's just sex... not like we haven't done it before."

"We can't," Raven said, looking away from him, "Because you still love me."

There was silence in the cave for a solid minute, and Robin slumped down even further into his seat. He whispered back, "And you don't love me?"

Raven shook her head, "I don't know, Dick. I just don't know."

Robin just nodded, still looking away from her. He stood up slowly, and started towards the stairs to the manor, "We'll be leaving in the plane in a few hours. Be ready to head home then."

"Okay." she didn't watch him as ascended the stairs, so she didn't see his dejected posture, or the tears brimming at the corners of his eyes. She didn't see how he swiped at them in frustration, or the way he walked so slowly.

But then again, she was Raven, and she didn't have to see Robin to know how he was feeling.

* * *

Cyborg dropped his gym bag in the trunk of the T-Car, and shut it with a solid thump. He turned to go back to the garage of the Titans East Tower to grab his tool kit, but paused when he saw Speedy leaning against the frame of the door.

"Hey, Vic."

"Roy." Cyborg nodded to him with a grin, "Miss me already?"

"I wanted to talk about Karen." Speedy smiled weakly.

Cyborg frowned, "What about her?"

"More about you... like..." the scarlet archer paused, then pushed forward after mustering his bravery, "What are your intentions, Vic?"

"What is this?" Cy snorted out a laugh, "Are you her dad now?"

"No, but I'm her second." Speedy leveled a glare at Cyborg, "If the two of you leave the Titans, I'm going to be in charge of Titans East. I need to know if you're planning on... um... popping the question."

Cy arched an eyebrow, and walked over to his friend. He leaned against the wall next to Speedy and they stared out at the roiling waters of the Atlantic Ocean, "I've been thinking about it."

"Have a ring yet?"

"Not just yet, no."

"Hmm."

"What's 'hmm' mean?"

"Should I be discussing your replacement with Robin?"  
"Man, I don't know..." Cy shook his head, "Even if I do ask her, and she says yes-

"She would. Don't kid yourself, Vic." Speedy rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, okay. But even if we do get hitched, who's to say if either of us will leave the Titans? She could move out to Jump and join us there, or the more likely scenario, I'd move out here to join you guys." Cyborg shook his head, "Robin could find a replacement for me."

"No," Speedy shook his head as well, "he couldn't."

Cy smiled in a warm manner and slugged Speedy lightly in the shoulder, sending him reeling, "You're an alright kind of guy, you know that Roy?"

"Second time I've heard that today." Speedy rubbed his shoulder, "Get your stuff and get out of here. We've got work to do."

"Uh huh." Cy strolled into the garage, "I'll think on this, Roy. I'd be happy if you'd talk to me about it again soon."

"Will do, Tin Man." Speedy watched him walk into the garage, then sighed and turned back to the ocean, "Man oh man... shit's about to hit the fan..."

* * *

Raven shifted in the co-pilot seat of the modified T-Sub/Ship/Jet. For as much as they used the versatile vehicle, it had rather uncomfortable seats. She sighed as she felt her butt begin to fall asleep.

"You're being awfully quiet." she commented over the Com.

Robin, sitting in the pilot's compartment, a position normally occupied by Cyborg, replied in a half-hearted manner, "Side affect of having your heart broken... again."

"Come on, Dick." Raven sighed again and absently flipped through various status screens, "We've been moving past this thing for months now, and we were doing pretty good... we can't let three days away from the Tower back slide us like this."

"Says you." Robin sounded slightly huffy, "I think that the fact we backslid at all should tell you something."

"Don't give me that." Raven growled, "We broke up for a reason, Dick. Several actually. Do you want me to remind you?"

"No need." Robin sighed, "We're fighting again already."

Raven was silent for a time, then spoke back up, "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"I know you still have feelings for me... I shouldn't push your buttons like that."

"So'kay." Robin's voice had taken on a distinctly glum tone, "We were dating for eleven months, Rae. It's not like we can just break all the old habits so quickly."

"We still haven't even tried to break some of them."

"I don't see why we have to stop sitting together when we read." Robin replied, "Or why we should dance around each other like physical contact will make us explode."

"Casually brushing against each other is okay, but we tend to... um... prolong our contact."

"Not my fault you're so horny." his voice definitely held a note of amusement now.

"Not my fault you don't make it a point to stop me."

"Why would I want to stop you?"

"Because regardless of all the witty banter we have, and all the little things we have yet to fully grasp about our no longer being an item, we're still _not seeing each other any more_, and we need to start acting like it."

There was silence again as the auto-pilot guided them home. It was almost five minutes before Robin spoke quietly again over the Com, "I still don't sleep well without you there..."

"Dick..." Raven rubbed her eyes, "Don't... just... don't."

The rest of the trip back to the Tower was made in silence.

* * *

Starfire greeted the two birds as they walked in from the hanger, "Greetings friends! I trust your trip to Gotham City was pleasant?"

"Yeah, really great." Raven brushed past her, "I'll be in my room. Meditating."

"Yes... we will not disturb you..." Starfire watched her go, then turned back to Robin as Raven disappeared into the elevator, "It was... not a pleasant trip?"

"We slept together again." Robin replied with a sigh as he carried both his and Raven's bags in from the hanger, "We fought about it afterwards. Kori... I'm never going to get her back..."

Star shook her head, "The two of you will work out your differences. This is just a phase in your relationship." she leveled a glare at him, "One that was bound to happen, the way you treat one another."

"Just because we don't make kissy faces at each other over breakfast," Robin scowled at her, "doesn't mean we hate each other."

"I did not say you hated each other," Star floated over and put a hand on his shoulder, "I meant that you argue far too much. You both must learn to compromise."

"Easy for you to say." Robin grunted as he hefted the bags and they started for the elevator, "Gar panders to your every whim."

"Well," Star grinned, "I _am_ a Princess."

"Not in this Tower you're not." Robin grinned, "What say I dump this stuff off and we hit the gym? I could use a good spar."

"Very well." Star winked at him, "Though I will warn you in advance, I am feeling quite fit today. I may not hold back very much."

"Wouldn't have it any other way." Robin smiled wider and they stepped on to the elevator, laughing.

* * *

Speedy chucked a rock into the ocean and watched it splash water around as it hit the surface. He was seated on a rocky bluff just outside the Titans East Tower, his shoulders slumped and his expression dejected.

He threw another rock, and was only mildly surprised when it flew back out of the water at him. Catching it deftly, he tossed it aside as Aqualad rose from the chilly Atlantic waters, grinning, "If I didn't know that our resident red headed archer was a raving ego-maniac without a serious bone in his body, I'd say you were depressed."

"Just thinking."

"Does it hurt much?"

"Fuck you, Garth."

"Seriously," the Atlantian swam over and splashed up on the rock next to the archer, "What's up man?"

"Just... Vic and Karen are getting really serious... like, marriage serious."

"Really?" Aqualad arched an eyebrow, "I didn't think they were even admitting to officially dating yet."

"Yeah, well... they're both twenty in just a few months, and they're so perfect together... makes a guy kind of depressed."

"I might be able to find you a date..." Aqualad winked at him.

"We don't exactly play for the same team, Garth."

"You're no fun."

"Uh huh. About as not gay as they come, I'd say."

Aqualad rolled his eyes, "You have dates all the time, Roy. What gives with the whole 'woe is me' thing?"

"Well, I know you're not exactly into dating too much, and Mas and Menos aren't even hardly old enough to start dating yet, but every other Titan out there has someone to call their own."

"Robin and Raven broke up." the dark haired Atlantian pointed out.

"Yeah, but they still sleep together, and act like they're dating. You should hear Robin bitch about it."

"Hmm... Starfire and Beast Boy are still together, and Vic has Karen... what about the independents? Hotspot?"

"More gay than you. He's been seeing some guy from India for almost eight months."

"Wildebeast?" Aqualad arched an eyebrow.

"He's dating a cow from Oregon."

Aqualad stared.

Speedy threw his hands up with a helpless smile, "I'm kidding! No, he met... get this... a female ox-woman. Calls herself Beauty."

"Beauty and the Beast? Ha!"

"No kidding. It's just you and me, man. The only single one's out there."

"We could start-"

"Don't even say it, Garth."

"Well, if you ever get out of your funk, I say we hit the town tonight and look for love!"

"I'm not interested in another quick lay, man."

"Then we'll avoid every place you normally go." Aqualad shrugged, "We'll hit some of the nicer places. Maybe meet a girl or two... or a guy or two... or three..."

Speedy groaned, "Gawd you are so _gay_..."

* * *

"Ha!" Starfire flew down at Robin with a punch that would smash a car. He deftly back flipped out of the way, landed, and hurled a small explosive at her, blasting her away from himself. He wasn't too worried about the impact and the explosion hurting her. Tameranians could take heaps of abuse before they even started to feel anything.

"Stop being so nice, Star." Robin growled, "I'm a super hero too you know. I can take care of myself."

Starfire flew in rapidly, and threw several more punches, as well as a few starbolts here and there. Robin dodged all of them and continually landed light rabbit punches on her cheeks. She grinned at him, "You are not hurting me..." she sing songed.

"It's not the point of the spar to hurt each other. Now come on and stop play fighting!" Robin shouted and grabbed her shoulders. Spinning about, he hurled her up and at a wall.

Starfire twisted about in midair, planted her feet on the wall, and stopped. She launched a rapid volley of starbolts at her opponent, then followed with an optic blast that scorched a line in the mats next to him. While he was off balance, she flew down faster than before and shoved him halfway across the room, pinning his shoulders to the ground.

"You are distracted." she told him in a serious voice, "It would be unfair to fight like this when you are so obviously not up to it."

"I-" Robin bit off his angry retort. She was right. "I'm sorry, Kori. I didn't mean to drag you in here and yell at you."

"It this not what best friends are for?" she winked at him.

"Yeah..." he reached up and pulled off his mask, "Best friends..." he stared up into her brilliant green eyes for a moment, then pulled her face down to his and kissed her.

Starfire melted in his arms, and deepened the kiss. Her hands tangled in his hair, and his ran up her sides, holding her closer. He moaned up into her mouth, and whispered, "Kori..."

She suddenly remembered hearing a similar moan just the night before, and her eyes snapped open. She quickly pulled away from Robin and floated up off of him, "Richard! What... you cannot..." as he sat up and stared at her in bewilderment, she became angry, "What in Xhal's name do you think you are _doing?_"

"It's what you want though, isn't it? A year ago you would have been ecstatic to have me kiss you, and now here I am, single again, and-"

"Richard!" she flew down and got in his face, "Listen to yourself! Do you think I will simply run into your arms now that you are no longer with Raven? Do you think I would settle for that? And what of my relationship with Garfield? Do you have so little respect for your friends that you would try to 'steal me away' from him?"

Robin's face crumpled and he flopped back on the mats of the gym, "But... don't you love me?"

"Of course I love you, Richard!" she hovered over him and looked down at him with worry etched on her face, "I told you back then that I always would! But now that I have found happiness elsewhere, you cannot simply stroll in and expect things to be as they were!"

He squeezed his eyes shut, "You're right... I... don't know what came over me there. I'm sorry Kori."

"You are forgiven, Richard. I know you are hurting inside, but you must understand that Raven needs her space at the moment, and you must be patient with her."

"I know..." he sighed and stood up, "I'm going to take a short nap, then head out on patrol. Have the rest of the team take the night off."

"Are you sure?" she looked even more worried. Robin had been known to take on too much in the past.

"I'll be fine, Kori. I just need to clear my head. Besides, help is always just a com call away."

"Very well. I shall inform Raven and Beast Boy, and Cyborg as well when he returns."

"Thanks." Robin waved over his shoulder as he departed.

Star watched him go, then sighed herself, and sagged to the floor. "Oh Richard..." she touched her lips, "I am so... so sorry."

* * *

Three weeks passed in a blur for the Titans. The crime rate in Jump wasn't any higher than usual, but it certainly kept them busy enough. Only a few major scrapes with super villains (they put away Dr. Light, Johnny Rancid, and Fang) and they came to a slow period. It happen in a cycle, every January.

It was cold, or at least, as cold as central California ever got. Add to that the general downturn of cash flow following the holidays, and criminals just didn't seem to be able to work up the gumption to head out and terrorize the streets.

Raven and Robin continued to avoid each other, keeping strictly to a business relationship. The other three Titans worried for them, but let them work things out their own way.

True to her word, Starfire was helping Beast Boy train harder, longer, and become an all around better crime fighter. Even Robin was impressed with the progress the green skinned changeling was making, and complimented him on it often.

Cyborg spent his days as he normally did, but could sometimes be gone for hours at a time, holed up in his room. None of the others knew that he was browsing the internet for decent engagement rings.

It was It was the 22nd soon enough. A Saturday. A Saturday that found Robin doing his regular Saturday-In-A-Crime-Slump activities.

He was reviewing unclosed cases.

As he sat in the main room of the Tower, using the main screen for his research, Raven walked though the room. He glanced over at her, then did a double take.

"Whoa." he blinked, "Going out?"

She glanced at him and nodded. She was wearing tight jeans and healed black boots. Her dark blue top was cut low, and had loose sleeves that dropped to her elbows. A leather jacket was slung over her shoulder, and her purse swayed next to her hip, "Yes."

"Where?" he arched an eyebrow.

She hesitated for a moment, then pushed ahead, "I have a date."

Her statement was met with ringing silence. After Robin picked his jaw up off the floor, he blinked at her, then turned back to his files, "Oh. Well, have fun."

Raven winced as she felt his emotions crash through the room like a tidal wave. He was upset, understandably, but she hadn't been prepared for the sense of betrayal that he was emanating. They'd been avoiding each other for so long, that she was sure they were finally starting to move past their past relationship, and had decided to go out with a friend of hers form the cafe she frequented.

She took his dismissal seriously and fled the room to escape his emotional assault on her psyche.

* * *

The knock on her door brought Starfire away from the flowers she had been arranging, "Yes?"

"It's me, Kori."

"Come in, Richard!" and she went back to her flowers.

The doors opened and Robin stepped in, looking about the room in a suspicious manner, "Did you know Raven was going out on a date tonight?"

She paused only briefly in her flower arranging, but it was enough to give her away, "I did not! Is she-"

"Cut it out, Kori. You're a terrible actress." he stalked across the room and glanced at her vanity, "And you don't use black eyeliner, or red lipstick, and your hair," he held up a brush, "isn't purple."

"I helped her get ready!" Star threw her hands up, "She asked me to! Was I suppose to tell her no?"

"Yes!" Robin shouted, "Kori, how the Hell do you expect me to win her back if you help her impress other guys?"

"She will not like this man as much as she does you! I am positive!"

"Oh? And why is that?"

"Because you are everything she wants! You are everything she needs!"

"You need to stop listening to Vertical Horizon." Robin rolled his eyes and Starfire's face fell.

"I am... sorry Richard. Raven so rarely asks me to assist her in the making-up that I leapt at the opportunity. I did not mean to dash your hopes so."

"Don't worry about it." Robin scowled as he stalked out the door, "I'm going on patrol."

"Do you wish for company-"

"No."

"Oh." Star uttered as the doors shut behind him, "I will simply... arrange flowers then." and with a sigh, went back to doing just that.

* * *

Robin scowled as he swung through the night sky of Jump City. Raven was out here somewhere, having a good time while he suffered. Suffered like the pathetic wimp he was. Why couldn't he just go to her and beg to have her back? He wanted her so badly, and he'd never been afraid to go after something he wanted. So why now?

As he mused, a sight below caught his eye. Pausing on a building ledge, he squinted down and saw the unmistakable bulk of Mammoth and the unmistakable hat of Private Hive as they attempted to create a backdoor into a financial firm's building.

"Bad night to run afoul of this Titan, boys." he muttered, and dove down at them with a scowl.

* * *

Raven chuckled politely as Brad cracked another silly joke. He wasn't as bad as Beast Boy, but still... he hadn't been like this back at the cafe. She knew he was nervous, and she could tell she intimidated him, but he wasn't even trying to keep his cool and bolster his courage to-

With a sigh, she realized she was comparing an average citizen to Robin, and shook her head to shake the thought away.

"You okay?" Brad asked and grinned in a nervous manner.

"Yeah. Just a bit dizzy." She did feel dizzy, but put it down to the smoky corner of the restaurant they were in. Brad was a smoker, and had gone through almost half a pack in the past hour.

Also not like his usual self.

"So," he started, "What have you been doing up at the Tower lately?"

"Working." she replied, and shrugged her shoulders, "There's actually a lot of paperwork involved."

"Wild. I wouldn't think the Titans would use too much paper, what with all the high tech stuff you've got." he grinned.

"Every file still needs a hard copy, just incase of a digital attack on the Tower. I wouldn't want to be the man or woman foolish enough to try an infiltrate Cyborg's system, but just in case someone was that stupid, and they managed to cause some kind of damage, the hard copies will allow us to re-enter information if it gets deleted."

"Oh. I guess that makes sense."

"Yeah, look, let's not talk about the Titans, okay? That's work, and we're suppose to be having a good time."

"Right." Brad nodded, "So... how do you feel about show tunes?"

"What is it that makes everyone assume I like show tunes?" Raven threw up her hand in exasperation.

"I dunno." Brad grinned, "You just come off as an 'Oklahoma' kind of girl..."

Raven didn't get a chance to snap at him and tell him to shut up, because at that precise moment, Robin flew through the glass front window of the restaurant. He landed in a heap of broken glass and tangled cape, and moaned softly as he dragged himself to his feet.

A moment later, and an enraged Mammoth smashed though the wall of the place, and slapped Robin across the room. He flew through the air and landed solidly on the table Raven and Brad were sharing.

Blinking up at her, Robin shook his head, "Raven?"

"Uh, yeah. What the fuck are you doing here?"

"I'm fighting Mammoth."

"I see that!" she snapped at him, "You just couldn't resist, could you? Did you trace my T-Comp to find me, or did you stalk me from the rooftops?"

"I didn't do either! The fight just took us here from a few blocks down!"

"Oh, 'cause I believe that!"

"It's true! Tell her Mammoth!" Robin pulled himself off the table and addressed the hulking young man who was about to charge again.

Mammoth blinked, then nodded, "Uh, yeah. We started down the street a ways, and Privet Hive and I have been pounding him down here ever since."

Raven narrowed her eyes, and turned to Robin, "Why are we chatting with the over grown ape?"

"To prove to you that... oh never mind. Get the people clear of here, then join me so we can take him down. I'll hold him off."

"Sure, whatever." Raven glared at him and only then noticed the blood staining his left arm, "You've been shot." she pointed.

"Yeah. Kevlar took most of it, but it still went in a little ways. I've been favoring that arm a little."

"I'm gonna rip that arm off!" Mammoth charged in then, and Robin lunged at him with a flying kick. They collided, and Mammoth stumbled back. Robin turned to glare at Raven.

"You have your orders." then turned his attention back to Mammoth.

Raven narrowed her eyes, but grabbed Brad's arm all the same, "You heard the man. Let's get the people out of here."

"I think I pissed myself." Brad replied, and stumbled along after her as she dragged him towards the kitchen.

* * *

"I'm just saying that off all the places you could have ended up, it had to be the one place where I was-"

"Look, Raven, I said I was sorry! How many times do you want me to apologize?"

The two of them were riding the elevator up to the medical level so Raven could pull the bullet that Private Hive and fired at him. The one he hadn't been able to dodge.

As the doors opened and they stepped off the lift, Raven scowled, "Just... shut up and let me take care of you. I'm taking charge as medical officer as well and grounding you for a few days. At least until my healing powers can mend you all the way."

"Fine." Robin scowled, but followed her down the hall anyway so she could patch him up. After all, it was one of the only times she touched him anymore.

* * *

"How'd he get a shot off on you anyway?" Raven squinted at Robin's shoulder, mopped away a bit more blood, and continued to sew in the stitches.

Robin winced, "Mammoth was a great distraction. I didn't even know Privet HIVE had a gun until it was too late."

"You were distracted and emotionally unstable. Why were you even out alone?"

"What is this? Twenty Questions? I was patrolling Raven, which last time I checked, was kinda' my job!"

"Where were the others?"

"How should I know? I just told Kori I wanted to be left alone, not that they shouldn't come out and help!"

"You're getting a little out of control, Dick. Maybe you should think about letting us handle things for a week or so. Rest up, get your focus back."

He sighed, "I don't need my _focus_ back, Rae."

Raven sighed as well, "As much as I know you dream about it, Dick, you can't have me back either."

"You know, more and more... I'm thinking I don't want you back."

"Don't lie to me. It doesn't work."

"I'm serious." Robin looked away from her, and over to his mask, where it lay on the table next to the stool he was seated on. He winced again as Raven jabbed the needle a little harder than was necessary, "Don't get all huffy. You were the one out on a date tonight."

"I can still sense that how you feel, Dick, and-"

"How I feel is irrelevant." Robin shook his head, "I don't really stand a chance of ever being with you again, do I? Stop leading me on, Rae. It's over."

She clipped off the last stitch, then sighed, "We just... fight so much, and it's so hard to date your leader when he's giving orders, and it's distracting too both of us in battle-"

"All those things we swore we'd work past when we started." Robin laughed in a hollow manner, "I'll be in bed. Tell Cy he's got the team until I'm ready for duty again." Robin stood up and walked to the door.

Raven's eyes grew cold, "If you want to avoid the topic, then fine. I'll pass on your orders-" the doors shut behind him, and she sighed. "-Robin."

* * *

Raven brushed the last length of her hair out after her shower, and sighed at her reflection. She was still a little dizzy, and the conversation with Robin earlier had taken a lot out of her. She felt weak, and a little sick.

"I'm cracking up." she muttered, and stood to go to bed. As he did, a wave of nausea swept her, and she reached out a hand to steady herself. Gulping back her shock, Raven let the dizziness pass, then walked over and climbed into bed.

Running a hand over the spot where Robin had used to sleep, she sighed and used her powers to flip off the light.

* * *

The next morning, Starfire floated down the hallway for the elevator, so she could joint Beast Boy in the training room. As she passed Raven's room, the door cracked open. Pausing, Star stuck her head in, "Raven?"

"In the bathroom, Kori." came the weak reply. Star grew a concerned expression on her face, and flew into the room, pausing at the bathroom door.

"Are you well, Raven?" Star blinked down at the extra-pale girl where she was crumpled on the floor in front of the toilet.

"I'm... no... I'm not..." Raven choked, then stuck her face back in the bowl, becoming violently ill. Star's eyes grew wide and she quickly bent down and held her friend's hair back.

"Raven! You are most grievously ill! What is it that assails you?"

"Star... on my vanity you'll find my purse." she gulped and looked up at her friend with pleading eyes, "Get out the cash in there, and I need you to fly to the store. Buy exactly what I tell you to..."

* * *

Several hours later, Starfire was pacing back an forth in front of Raven's shut bathroom door. Finally, she turned, "Friend Raven? I wish to enquire about your well being..."

The door opened, and Raven stood before her in dark jeans and a simple white t-shirt. Her feet were bare, but her hair was in much better order than Star had found it in that morning.

"Well?" Star floated forward a little, a nervous look on her face.

Slowly, Raven nodded, looking grim.

Star's face broke into a huge grin, "Heeeee!" she flew forward and almost tackled Raven, "This is wonderful news! We must celebrate-"

"Star!" Raven shoved her friend away, "How is this wonderful news?"

"But..." Star blinked, "This must be another cultural difference between my people and yours."

"I'll say." Raven smiled weakly, "I... have to go talk with Robin."

Star blinked, then covered her mouth, "Oh dear... I hadn't... oh..." she landed and sat down on Raven's bed, "Oh no."

"Uh huh. Don't wait for me... this could take a while." and she walked out of the room.

* * *

Robin was down in the garden on the West side of the Tower. The view of the bay and the bridge was phenomenal, and it was one of the reasons he'd chosen to place the garden where it was. Currently, he was inspecting the roses, and using a pair of gardening sheers to trim away dead vegetation.

Dressed in dirty jeans and a green long sleeved shirt, the only thing that remained of Robin about him was his eye mask, set firmly over his crinkled brow. He inspected a bud critically.

"Just a bit too cold for you, huh?" and he clipped it, "Too bad."

Turning slightly, he jumped when he caught sight of Raven standing not ten feet from him by the garden's entrance, "Whoa! Don't just... teleport in like that!"

"I walked in."

Robin blinked at her, "Oh."

"Dick... we need to talk."

"I don't want to talk about it." he turned away from her again, "Just let me get my head back on straight, Rae, then we'll just... put everything behind us."

"Not about that." she walked over, "It's... something's come up."

"Hmm?" he arched an eyebrow, "Another date?"

"Shut the fuck up, Dick." she growled, and he took a step back from the venom in her voice, "This isn't about me! It's about you _and_ me!"

"What the hell are you going on about?"

She sighed, and slumped forward at him. Startled, he caught her and let her hug him. After a moment, she reached up and peeled his mask off, "Things... aren't going to be the same anymore."

"Raven? Are you okay? You're not hurt are you?"

"I'm... fine. Better than fine... I'm..." she looked up at him and he saw a soft smile, and tears in her eyes, "I think... I'm content with everything."

"Wha... Raven, you're... you're sick, aren't you?"

"No." Raven shook her head, "But I'm glad it's you, Dick. I'm so, so glad it's you."

"Raven?"

"Dick..." she smiled a watery smile, "I'm pregnant."

* * *

Reviews! I actually kinda like this one better than Falling Up, because all the useless 'this is how they got together' stuff is out of the way already. Anyway, next chapter is Starting Again. I'll have it up in a few months or so.

For those of you freaking out about my other two works in progress, they're coming along nicely. Look for them both to update within a week.


	2. Chapter 2

Forward Motion

A Teen Titans FacFiction by Jacob McDonald

Opening notes: Alright. Hiatus over. Let's get posting again. Look for a few new stories soon, as well as more chapters to JCSymph, and a special surprise for all you Re-Educating Miss Roth fans…

Standard disclaimers apply. I don't own Teen Titans.

* * *

Chapter Two: Dealing

* * *

Speedy sat at a table in the sun room of a nice Italian restaurant in the Financial District of Steel City. Across from him was a gorgeous burnet girl of around twenty years, smiling at him in such a manner as to suggest she was truly enjoying his company. He smiled back.

"I'm glad Aqualad and Mark set us up," the girl, who's name was Cindy, said to him, "we're having lots of fun."

"Yeah." Speedy smiled wider, "Garth is a good guy. I trust his judgment in almost everything. I see he was dead on about you being perfect for me."

She blushed lightly, then covered her mouth, "Oh no! Am I supposed to know his real name?"

Speedy waved a hand, "Everyone under the waves already knows who he is, and to us surface dwellers, his name doesn't mean that much."

"What about you?" Cindy batted her eyes at him, "What's your name?"

"Ah ah ah... can't give away all my secrets on the first date..." he grinned and she giggled.

"But don't you think trust is important in a relationship?" she asked as he took a sip of his water. He nodded, and she continued with a smile, "That's good. We were just discussing this in my small group at church the other night-"

Speedy spluttered into his water and sloshed some of it down his front. He gagged and coughed, then glanced up at her with a red face, "Sorry..."

"Are you okay?" she looked concerned.

"Yeah! Fine..." his eyes darted to her neck and he saw that she wore a silver cross there. How could he have missed that before?

"I know you Titans are awfully busy, Speedy, but do you get a chance to attend services much?"

Speedy stared for a second, then opened his mouth to reply, then shut it again. He thought for a moment, scratched his head, opened his mouth to speak again, then shut it again.

Cindy arched an eyebrow.

A sharp bleeping from Speedy's com unit saved him from having to answer and he quickly snatched it out. Reading the ID display, he arched and eyebrow of his own. "Hold on just a sec," he said to her with a nervous grin, "I have to take this one..." and he flipped open the unit and put it on privacy mode. Holding it up to his ear like a cell phone, he spoke, "Hey! Robbie! What's up, man?"  
Cindy watched with growing alarm as all the color suddenly seeped out of Speedy's face, and he clutched the edge of the table. His mouth dropped open as he listened to the other end of the line for a moment, then he shot up out of his chair, knocking it over and drawing stares from the rest of the restaurant's patrons.

"Holy shit eating Christ! Are you fucking serious?" Speedy shouted. Cindy gasped and covered her mouth, looking up at him in abject horror. Speedy listened for another few seconds, then burst out again, "Fuck you, Robin! You're shitting with me! No! You have to be-" he listened for another few seconds, then stumbled and caught himself on the table, knocking over his half full water glass. He nodded quickly and shouted once again, "Okay! OKAY! I'll be out there in three hours. NO! Don't leave the Tower until I get there. You here me? Do. Not. Leave. Okay. I'll see you in a few. Later." and he shut the communicator.

Looking back to his date, Speedy saw her looking at him as if he was the Anti-Christ. Blinking, he recalled his first outburst, and winced. "Uh... I've gotta run... emergency on the West Coast... I'll uh..." he stopped and pointed with a click of his tongue, "I'll call you. Later, babe."

The super hero turned and fled as fast as his feet could carry him.

* * *

The phone in the upscale apartment on the east side of Keystone City rang for less than half a ring before it was picked up by a dripping wet young man with reddish hair, a towel wrapped around his waist, and a silly grin, "Hello?"

_"Christ, Wally, could you at least let it ring once?"_

"Hey Raven. Sorry."

_"Don't worry about it, just... is Jinx there?" _

"Yeah. Hold on." he pulled the phone away from his face and called out, "Yo! Babe! It's for you!"

A moment later, a young woman with pink hair and eyes, and a pale complexion walked into the room, wearing only a large men's t-shirt that had the Flash logo screen printed across the front. She smiled at Wally as she took the phone from him and kissed him lightly on the lips. Bringing the receiver to her ear, she flopped down in a nearby chair as Wally walked off to the bathroom.

"Hey. Jinx speaking."

_"Jinx!" _the pink eyed girl blinked, _"Thank Azar you're there!"_

"Raven?" Jinx arched a pink eyebrow, "What's up?"

_"We fucked up... damnit I knew having sex again was a bad idea-"_

"Whoa! Slow down!" Jinx leaned forward and her lips twitched into a smile, "Who'd you have sex with again?"  
_"Robin, you idiot! Who else have I slept with in the past year?"_

"I dunno. It's not like I keep track-"

_"Shut up and listen, Jenny!" _Jinx sat up and narrowed her eyes at the use of her given name.

"Don't call me that."

_"Jinx then! Whatever! Just listen!"_

"Fine! Talk!"

_"Dick and I... er... Robin and I-"_

"I know his name, Raven. Continue."

_"Yeah. Dick and I had sex again on New Years, and uh... we fucked up."_

Jinx blinked. "What do you mean you-" she paused and her mouth opened. Her eyes grew wide and she whispered, "Fucking hell... you did _not_ have sex without some kind of birth control, did you?" The other end of the line was silent for a moment, then Jinx swallowed and sat back with a hand over her eyes, "You're pregnant, aren't you?"

_"Yes." _

"Shit... girl... I'll be out there in a few hours. Have to get ready, then I'll have Wally run me into town. Damn... okay... I'll put together a list... start looking at websites, and see about doctors in the area."

_"Okay... okay..." _Raven sounded like she was about to hyperventilate.

"Raven!" Jinx snapped.

_"What?"_

"Go get Star to help you. Have you told Dick?"

_"Yes... he took it well enough."_

"Did he pass out?"

_Of course he didn't pass out! He's fucking Robin for crying out loud!"_

"Well, yeah... but he's a guy too. And guys don't usually take this kind of news too well..."

_"Well, Dick just held me for a few minutes then assured me that everything would be fine."_

"When?"

_"A half hour ago. He said pretty much the same things you're saying, then went off on his own."_

"Where?"

_"To call Speedy if I don't miss my guess."_

_

* * *

_

Oliver Queen looked down at the paper work in front of him and sighed. Queen Industries was still in the green, but they were dropping away rapidly. He'd just been spending too much time out lately, helping his friends. He'd have to pull back and concentrate on home for a few months to-

The doors of his study flew open, and Roy Harper stood there, his eyes wide and his clothes wrinkled. He looked at Oliver, and Oliver looked back for a moment. The older man blinked.

Roy suddenly rushed in and made a b-line for the liquor cabinet. He pulled a back pack off and started loading it full of as much expensive booze as he could carry.

"Whoa!" Ollie jumped up and rushed over, yanking Roy away from the alcohol, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I need this a hell of a lot more than you do right now, Old Man!" Roy nodded his head fervently and struggled against his mentor, "Trust me!"

"What is so important that you think I'm going to let you steal all of my expensive liquor for, when you're under the drinking age?" Ollie placed himself between Roy and the booze and a brief shoving match ensued. After a moment, both men stepped apart and stared at one another, breathing heavily.

Roy looked Ollie right in the eye for a moment, then spoke very seriously, "Dick knocked up his girlfriend."

Ollie took a step back with wide eyes, and his blonde mustache quivered. "Holy... shit, Roy, take as much as you want."

"Thanks, Ollie." Roy smiled in a relived sort of way, then went back to his packing. Ollie picked out a bottle of scotch and handed it to him,

"Take this. It's good."

"Thanks." Roy nodded and shouldered the bag. He nodded to his mentor, then ran to the doors. He paused at the threshold and turned back to Ollie with a grimace, "Uh... don't tell Bruce."

"Wouldn't dream of it." Ollie smiled weakly.

"Thanks... see ya." and Roy was gone.

Ollie sighed and went back to his desk. Sitting down once again, he began going over the reports in earnest, content that his weren't the biggest problems in the world.

* * *

Beast Boy was walking down the hallway to his room when the door next to him slid open and a huge titanium hand shot out. He squeaked as it clamped down on his shoulder and dragged him in to the room.

"Dude!" Beast Boy shrugged out of Cyborg's grip as the doors slid shut, "What the hell, man?"

"Sorry. I'm trying to keep this on the down low." Cy looked at his smaller friend seriously, "You can't tell anyone about it."

"About what?" Beast Boy looked exasperated, "Dude, you're not making any sense."

"Sorry..." Cyborg rubbed his head, "Follow me."

The two of them walked further into Cy's lab, and ended up at a computer console. Cyborg took a deep breath, then maximized the window of the website he'd been browsing.

Beast Boy leaned forward and inspected the picture and details of a nice looking tri-stone diamond engagement ring. "For Karen?" he asked.

"Yeah." Cyborg held his breath, "What do you think?"

Beast Boy read the information on the side of the page, and nodded his head, "It says here that it's near colorless, and it's got a really good rating on the clarity scale. Carrot and a half weight... set in twenty four carrot yellow gold... that'll match her skin tone... good price too, if you can afford it."

Cy eyed him, "Since when do you know so much about diamonds? You thinking about popping the question too?"

Beast Boy looked over at him, "You remember when we stopped Billy Numerous from robbing Kan's Jewelry Store?"

"Yeah. You knocked over the soft drink cooler that was set up, and smashed a few cases full of loose jewels. Mr. Kan was furious."

"Yeah, well, Robin made me sift through all the ice to find the diamonds. I got really good at identifying them, and Mr. Kan showed me the scales and stuff." Beast Boy shrugged, "The things you pick up on this job, eh?"

"Yeah." Cy chuckled, "Well, do you think she'll like it?"

"Vic, you could give her a ring from a box of Cracker Jacks and she'd say yes." Beast Boy smiled warmly, "She loves you, dude."

"Thanks man." Cy put a hand on his shoulder, "Now I just need to work up the courage to ask her."

Beast Boy shook his head with a grin, "Look on the bright side. In my girlfriends culture, proposing means that I have to best the bride-to-be in ritual combat before she can say yes."

* * *

A modified, single man version of the T-Ship touched down on the landing pad next to the Tower a few second before Kid Flash came to a sudden halt a few meters away from it. The yellow and red clad speedster was holding Jinx in his arms, who was in her standard 'cute little witch' getup. He let her down and grinned up at the craft next to him as Speedy jumped down with a backpack slung over one shoulder that clinked as if it held several glass bottles.

"How's tricks, Roy?"

"Oh, you know... everybody wants to rule the world. Have you heard?"

"Raven called Jinx in. You need any help with Robbie?" Kid Flash arched an eyebrow.

"No... this is something I have to do alone." Speedy looked like he was about to walk in front of a firing squad, "Jinx... be careful."

"Raven's not nearly as dangerous as she seems." Jinx winked, "Besides... chicks are always happier about this kind of stuff than guys are."

"Yeah..." Speedy looked up at the Tower, "Hey, Wally? Why don't you stick around after all? I might need backup."

* * *

Beast Boy found Starfire sitting on her bed, frowning down at the purple sheets with her hands folded in her lap. His expression grew concerned and he walked across the room to her, sitting down and rubbing her back, "Hey... what's wrong?"

"Garfield..." she looked up at him with a serious expression, "how do you feel about children?"

Beast Boy pulled away from her with wide eyes, "Holy shit... you're not... I mean, I know we don't use protection or anything, but we're completely different species... our genetic code isn't even compatible!"

Star looked at him for a moment, then giggled, "Not _our_ children, silly! Just children in general."

"Oh... phew!" Beast Boy wiped sweat from his brow, "I like kids well enough. Definitely not ready to have any, but I think they understand me better than most adults do."

Starfire giggled again, "Yes... I can see why."

"Oh, thanks..." he rolled his eyes.

Star's face reddened slightly, and she fidgeted nervously, "If I had been pregnant... would it really have terrified you so?"

He stared at her for a long moment, then smiled in a gentle manner, "Kori... of course it would scare me. But it's not like I wouldn't be happy too. If we ever have kids, we'll have to adopt, but... I'd like to... you know, _someday_." He too blushed and looked away.

Star seemed relieved, and hugged him to her, kissing his cheek. He held her and she snuggled into his embrace, "That is good to hear, Garfield. I love you too."

* * *

Robin looked up from where he sat on the floor of the gym and locked maskless eyes with maskless eyes as Speedy stepped into the room, his uniform forgone in favor of jeans and a t-shirt. Roy looked about the gym, both his eyebrows raised.

Various parts and limbs of training dummies and robots littered the floor, and Dick sat at the epicenter of the devastation, his tape wrapped hands and feet bloodied by the task of dismantling all of them in a rather forceful manner.

"Been venting?" Roy asked.

"Fuck you." was Dick's only reply, which he grunted without moving.

"Alright..." Roy picked his way across the room, "Let's get you cleaned up, then get the Holy Hell out of this Tower and get you properly fucked up. Then we can deal with this shit in the manner it should be dealt with... while we're hopelessly drunk and not thinking straight." He grabbed Dick under the arms and hauled him to his feet, "Come on."

Dick slugged him so hard he fell on his ass. Roy looked up at him with an arched eyebrow, "The fuck?"

"Raven... is... PREGNANT Roy!" Robin shouted, "What the fuck am I going to do?"

"Well, the first thing is get drunk-"

"Stop acting like we're kids for a second here Roy and try to help me, okay?"

"Okay! Fine!" Roy stood up and grabbed Dick's shoulder with one hand, "The first thing you need is this." and he slammed his own fist into Dick's jaw, blasting the other young man off his feet and into a pile of robot parts. "The second thing you need is to get back up and talk to me like I'm not a fucking _idiot_."

Dick rubbed his jaw as he stood up and nodded with a sigh, "Okay... what's the move?"

"We get drunk. We talk this shit out." Dick nodded as Roy listed things off on his fingers, "You tell Raven how much you love her, and how you plan on supporting her through this, and the rest of your child's life..." Dick nodded as Roy hesitated.

"Then what?" he asked, looking desperate.

"Then..." Roy winced and looked away from his friend, "Then you call Bruce and tell him."

Dick groaned and covered his face with his hands, "No fucking way."

"Look, he has to know, okay? You're his _son_ Dick!"

"His _adopted_ son."

"Still." Roy shook his head, "You know he'll give you all the help and support you need, monetarily and otherwise."

"This doesn't involve him, and he doesn't need to know-"

"Dick." Roy sounded so serious, that Dick actually paused and looked at him. The red haired archer was frowning at him, "This situation stopped being about you and Raven, and started being about the child the two of you are going to have the second you both found out. You have to do what's best for the kid, Dick."

After a moment, Dick deflated and nodded, "I'll call him tomorrow. For now though... let's move on to stage one of your plan... after I tell Raven I'm going out."

"Aw, shit." Roy grinned, "And so it begins..." He then made a whip cracking noise and shoved Dick along playfully.

Dick rolled his eyes.

* * *

Jinx walked into Raven's room without knocking and looked around until she spotted clothes flying from Raven's walk in closet. "Rae!" she called out and walked over. Looking inside, she paused.

Raven was inspecting herself in a full length mirror, checking out how she looked in a tight blue top. After a moment, she chucked it over her shoulder.

Jinx caught it and frowned, "What the flying _fuck_ are you doing?"

"Getting rid of stuff I wont be able to wear anymore."

Jinx rolled her eyes, "Raven, you're beautiful. You'll probably be one of those mothers that barely even looks pregnant, then looks even better after having the baby then you did before you were pregnant."

"I'm gonna be _huge_." Raven replied glumly, then walked over and rested her head on the pink haired girls shoulder, "Hey."

"Hey yourself." Jinx hugged her with one arm, "You find a doctor yet?"

"No... I need someone who's used to weird stuff, and none of the doctors in the area seem to be experts in dealing with demonic power and mood swings from hell... literally."

Jinx grinned and laughed, then sobered up, "Okay... let's call STAR Labs. They'll be able to help us out."

"That's a good idea." They both turned to see Dick in the doorway, Roy hovering just outside, a nervous look on his face. Dick continued, "Ask for Doctor Sarah Charles. She's a friend."

"Okay." Raven nodded, then walked halfway across the room before stopping, "You're coming back, right?"

"Of course I am." Dick walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her. Jinx and Roy both smiled as he murmured into her hair, "I wouldn't leave you even if you couldn't hunt me down and tear my soul apart."

Raven laughed a little, and Dick held her tighter when he realized she was crying again.

"Shh..." he rubbed her back and pulled away, wiping her tears away with his thumb, "It'll be okay, Rea. I'm going to... get help. I'll take care of you, and this baby, to the best of my ability."

"I know." she nodded, "Don't get too drunk."

"If I know Roy..." Dick paused, "and I do know Roy..." he rolled his eyes and Raven giggled, "then I'll be so trashed when I get home, I wont even know which way is up."

She sighed and rolled her eyes, then kissed him. He was surprised for a second, then kissed back. She pulled away a moment later, then smiled up at him, "Go have fun. We'll be here... having our own party."

"Okay." Dick stepped away from the dark beauty, then out the door. Roy clamped him on the shoulder, and they were off.

Raven turned back to Jinx with a grin, "Get Starfire, kick Gar and Vic out, and call up all the girls you can. We're having a slumber party."

* * *

Dick and Roy walked into the living room of Titans Tower and paused when they saw Wally, Kid Flash costume forgone in favor of ripped jeans and a yellow t-shirt with white high tops and a hemp necklace, sitting on the couch and flipping channels on the TV faster than most people could blink. He tilted his head back and looked at them upside down over the edge of the couch, "Sup?"

"We're going out." Roy said, "We have booze, so be ready."

"Eh." Wally shrugged, "My metabolism will just break down any alcohol before it gets me drunk."

"Good." Dick nodded, "You're driving then."

"Sweet." Wally stood up, "What _am_ I driving?"

Dick grinned ear to ear, "Vic wont let us take the T-Car, so I guess we'll have to take the Charger I have for just such emergencies."

"You have a Dodge Charger?" Roy laughed a little.

"A 1964 Dodge Charger, ass hole." Dick grinned, "In mint condition with all stock parts."

"Wow." Wally walked over, "How long did it take you to restore?"

Dick shook his head, "Bruce gave it to me for my seventeenth birthday. He had two."

Roy and Wally both shook their heads and laughed.

* * *

There was a knock on Beast Boy and Starfire's door, and the green changeling stood up and walked over. Opening it, he arched an eyebrow and stepped back, "Hey Jinx. What brings you to the Tower?"

"Problems. Kori? We need you." Jinx looked past BB at Star, who floated up and over to them.

"Of course."

"Gar, get out of the Tower for the night. You can come back tomorrow morning." Jinx jerked a thumb over her shoulder.

"Uh... excuse me? Are you kicking me out of my own home?" Beast Boy shook his head, "You got a good reason?"

"Raven said so."

"She have a good reason?"

"She's having a slumber party, and boys aren't allowed tonight."

"Raven?" Beast Boy laughed, "Raven wants to have a _slumber party_?"

"Gar..." Jinx looked tiered, and he frowned.

"What? What's going on?" he looked back and forth between Jinx and Starfire, then looked frightened, "What happened to Raven?"

Jinx looked at Star, then nodded at Beast Boy, "You tell him."  
"Why must I... oh... I guess..." Star looked at her boyfriend, "When we were discussing children earlier, I was thinking of the subject because... Raven is going to have a child of her own."

Beast Boy blinked, then looked over at Jinx for confirmation, "Raven is pregnant?"

"Yep."

"Was it Dick?"

"Yep."

"Oh. Okay." he shrugged, "So where is the idiot? I have to go kick his head in."

"Oh for crying out loud." Jinx threw her hands up, "He's freaking out, Gar. He needs his friends to support him right now, not beat him up."

"He got Raven pregnant." Beast Boy shook his head, anger clouding his face, "How is that... that's not okay."

"It's just as much her fault as his." Jinx pointed at him, "And if you go ragging on him and telling him how much he fucked up, and how you hate him for getting your friend pregnant, I will personally go HIVE all over your ass until you're nothing but a stain on the fucking carpet."

Beast Boy blinked. He knew if he and Jinx threw down it'd be one holy hell of a fight, and somehow, with her eyes glowing pink at him, and her finger shaking like that, he knew it was one he'd loose. "Okay... I'll... go buy him a cigar or something."

"He and Roy are down stairs. Find Vic and get him out of here too. Then the four of you and Wally can get out of the Tower and go get drunk like Speedy wants to."

"Heh." Beast Boy shook his head, "No drinking for me."

Starfire, who had been silent the whole time, smiled, "You will keep them out of trouble, wont you Garfield?"

"Of course I will." Beast Boy nodded, "It's not very often I get to be the responsible one... and Vic isn't going to be a problem."

"Why not?" Star looked curious.

"He already left for Steel City. He's picking up... um... you know what? You'll find out soon enough anyway." He shook his head, "I'm buggering off. Kori..." he kissed her lips, "Have fun."

A green bumble bee flew off down the hallway, and Starfire smiled after it, "He is a good man."

"He's an annoying prat." Jinx rolled her eyes, "What you see in him..."

"Hush." Starfire slapped her arm, "Who else are we inviting to this slumber party Raven wishes to have?"

"Let's raid Robin's room... he's got a deep rolodex, doesn't he?"

"Indeed he does... though perhaps we should check with Raven first."

"Eh. Fine." Jinx shrugged with a grin, "It is her baby after all."

* * *

Gar found the other three super teens in the garage, pulling the cover off the car that Dick had received for his seventeenth birthday. He became himself again after buzzing Roy's ear. Grinning as he squatted on the tool bench behind the car, he spoke in a teasing voice, "How's my favorite red haired punk ass?"

"I'm gonna swat you if you ever do that again." Roy grinned at him and walked over. Gar jumped down and they clamped their hands together in a firm shake and a one armed hug. "The girls kick you out?"

"Yeah." Gar turned from the archer and walked slowly over to Dick. The black haired young man looked like he was about to pass out from nerves, and it was then the changeling fully understood what Jinx had been talking about. He put a hand on his friends shoulder, "It's going to be okay, ya' know?"

Dick grinned in a half relieved, half exhausted kind of way and nodded, "Yeah. Thanks Gar."

"Any time." The green skinned young man turned to their two companions, "So! Let's get this show on the road! I hear you have enough alcohol to keep us drunk until doomsday, Roy."

"That's an understatement." Wally said as he poked his head out the drivers side window, "He has at least three different kinds of _everything_."

"Na." Roy shook his head, "Only one kind of scotch, which Ollie recommends highly by the way, and two kinds of tequila."

Dick groaned as he opened the front passenger side door, "Don't even _mention_ tequila after what we went through in Morocco."

"What the hell did the two of you get up to in Morocco?" Gar asked as he too climbed into the car.

Roy laughed, "Well, we went over there together because Bats and G.A. wanted us to look into some stuff for them... this was two years ago, just before the whole Brotherhood thing, by the way. Anyway, Dick gets this brilliant idea to sneak into the bar the guys we're tailing have ducked into..."

* * *

"Hey, Kara? It's Raven." The dark Titan sat on her bed with her T-Comp pressed to her ear like a cell phone. She was wearing the same jeans and t-shirt she had been when she'd found out she was pregnant, and her feet were still bare. Open in front of her on the bed was an address book emblazoned with a stylized 'R' logo on the front of it. It was currently open to the 'S' page.

Raven continued her conversation, "Yeah, Raven Roth, the Titan. Haven't seen you in a while, I know. It's been what? Seven months? Not since my tour of the Watch Tower." She listened for a moment, then smiled, "No, we don't need you out here to battle Apokolips for us or anything, but I could use you out in Jump as a friend. Yeah, I'm kinda' having a slumber party to celebrate something."

Raven grew nervous and glanced up as Starfire floated into her room. She smiled weakly at the alien girl in front of her, then went back to speaking to the one on the phone, "Um... actually, it's to celebrate... you know, there's just no easy way to say it. I'm pregnant. I'm going to have a baby, and I'd like to get a bunch of girls together and have a party."

Starfire grinned as excited shouting came through the line and Raven had to hold the T-Comp away from her ear. The dark Titan's smile gained confidence, and she nodded, "Take your time, Kara! Get some stuff together. Yes, I know you can be here in ten minutes. Okay, I'll have someone meet you on the roof. Alright. Bye."

Snapping the T-Comp shut, Raven checked off another name on a list she had tucked away in the pages of Robin's address book. She looked up at Starfire, "Kara Zor-El will be here very soon."

"I have missed Super Girl's bouncy demeanor very much." Star beamed, "When she stayed with us for those two days a year ago, it was quite enjoyable."

"Yeah." Raven looked back down at her list, "Let's see... Super Girl, check. Next is... Star Girl."

Starfire blinked, "Please, who is this Star Girl?"

"You remember Courtney, don't you?"

"Oh! The Star Spangled Kid!"

"Yeah, she changed her name. She _is_ seventeen now, and calling herself a kid just doesn't seem to fit."

"But Garfield calls himself Beast Boy..." Star looked concerned.

"Trust me, Kori, the name still fits him."

Starfire giggled and flew off to meet Super Girl on the roof.

* * *

Four young men sat in a roaring Dodge Charger as it tore down the streets of Jump City. The car was painted a shiny black, and had more than a few after-market upgrades. Still, even Batman didn't feel right screwing with such a nice car, and the engine was all stock. The license plate read TITAN1 and was marked with state police logos so that it could be identified as a crime fighting vehicle.

It was the only reason Dick had allowed Roy to keep his bag of booze in the back seat. He and Gar were currently sifting through it while Roy sat in the front passenger seat and Wally drove. The windows were down and the stereo was loud.

Wally sang along as the music blared, _"Keep that thing in your pants! You got nothin' for me, no! Your sister knows how to dance... she might be more my speed, yeah!"_ Roy grinned and joined him, _"She moves just like a panther baby, I bet you never knew, when I said-"_

Gar and Dick joined in as they both inspected different bottles of booze. The four of them all shouted out, _"This is how we go about it! To make our heads explode all night! This is how we go about it! To make out heads explode!" _

Laughter trailed after the car as it roared towards the dingy side of town, and the nightclubs that catered to the younger crowd.

* * *

Jinx walked through the living room with a cell phone pressed to her ear, "Yeah. That's twenty-two large pizzas. Can you list the toppings to me to make sure you got it all down right?" As she listened, Jinx scanned the room.

A blonde girl with an American flag for a t-shirt and loose fitting jeans sat on the couch talking to a green skinned young woman with long, slightly darker green hair, dressed in a white blouse and black silk slacks. She placed them as Stargirl and Jade.

Over by the bank of computers in the living room was a red haired girl dressed in all black talking to a blonde woman wearing tight jeans and a black tube top. Batgirl and Black Canary. A third woman with black hair walked up to them and smiled as they both giggled at her. That one was the Huntress, a relatively new Gotham vigilante.

Walking in from the upper levels was Starfire and Supergirl, both still dressed in their costumes. Behind them came two young women who were arguing about something. One had white hair and the other had reddish brown. Dove and Hawk respectively.

In the kitchen, talking about something that was making everyone laugh was a blonde girl in a tennis skirt. That would be Flamebird, fresh off the courts most likely, as she had gone pro just six months before. Laughing with her were the brunet Mary Marvel and the punk rock chick named Argent.

The rest of the guests were on their way still. Kole had left Gnark for a night to come, and Raven had even called the girl she had babysat for during the Brotherhood fiasco. Marvin, or Melvin or something. She'd be the youngest one at only fourteen.

Jinx snapped out of her musings as the order was finished being repeated. She continued to speak, "Yeah, Delivery. Where? Titans Tower." She listened for a moment, then rolled her eyes, "No, this isn't a joke. Look, I have a lot of hungry girls here, and if you don't get here with those pizzas in an hour you're going to have about twenty super heroes flying into your store." she listened again, then nodded, "$220.84. I'll have it when you get here."

Sighing in a disgusted manner, she turned the phone off and called out, "Thanks for letting me use your phone, Courtney!" then chucked it across the room.

Stargirl looked up and let out an 'eep!' as she ducked. Jade held up a hand and a green baseball glove formed out of nothing and caught the phone. She frowned at the grinning Jinx, "Stop picking on her, Jen! You're being a brat!"

"Yeah, whatever." Jinx waved it off as she waked to the elevator Hawk, Dove, Starfire and Supergirl had come out of. Riding it up a few levels, she stepped out and walked down a hall to Raven's room.

Poking her head in, she looked around and was about to call out when she saw Raven in the corner, talking to a tall young woman with long black hair. The new comer was gorgeous, and she was dressed in a body suit that was covered in a pattern that looked exactly like a starry night sky. A silver length of rope swung from her hip, and she had a hand placed on Raven's shoulder.

Raven was speaking, "I'm just... I'm scared. I've always been in control, but this... I didn't want this, and-"

"Raven," the young woman cut her off. Even her voice was beautiful, "It's true we're different from most people. You have to consider your destiny though." Raven looked at her with watery eyes, and the woman continued, "Every day we live a life that we didn't choose so much as it chose us. It's a life that brings us joys and disappointments, failures and successes…" Her stance was tall and strong, and she spoke with unswerving honesty and determination, "We have no idea what tomorrow will bring to us. But I accept the fact that tomorrow will come..." she turned Raven to face her, "And I'm going to rise to meet it."

Raven's lower lip quivered for a moment, then she hugged the other woman and sighed, "Thank you. You always know what to say."

"That might be an overstatement. Are you going to introduce your friend?"

Raven looked to the doorway and saw Jinx, "Jenny, come in. I want you to meet someone."

Jinx stepped into the room and over to the woman who seemed to radiate confidence and power, "Um... hi. I'm Jinx. Call me Jenny."

The woman smiled in a friendly manner and held out a hand to shake, "I'm Troia. Call me Donna."

As Jinx shook her hand, realization set in, "Holy shit..." she looked up, _"Wonder Girl?"_

"Not for a few years now, but yes." Donna giggled and nodded.

"Holy..." Jinx grinned, "Now, not to sound like a fan girl or something, but you were like... my favorite super hero _ever_. I had a scrap book of newspaper clippings and everything."

"Had?" Donna giggled again, "Did you outgrow me?"

"No... I just..." Jinx shrugged, "I left a lot of my stuff at the HIVE when I defected. They destroyed it."

"Whoa..." Donna took a step back, "I know I was popular with your age group, but I never knew I was the idol of super villain girls too!"

"Oh, hell yes, sister!" Jinx laughed, "I think every girl in the world between ten and fifteen wanted to be you when I was that age!" Jinx jerked a thumb at the other girl in the room, "Except Raven, who's a stiff anyway." Turning to the dark Titan, Jinx slugged her shoulder, "How do you know Troia anyway?"

"I met her years ago, just after the Titans formed." Raven smiled, "She's one of Robin's old buddies from way back when. We've met a few more times, and every time I see her she always has something else to say that puts all of my fears to rest."

"Heh." Donna shrugged, "I'm just a walking fortune cookie really. Hey, is there a party downstairs or what?"

"Sure is." Jinx grinned, "You want to change first? We can wait."

"That sounds great." Donna looked relived, "This suit is a bit more comfortable than my Wonder Girl getup was, but it still gets a little sweaty after a while..."

* * *

Outside the Soto dance club, a young man fell to the ground with a grunt and stared up with wide eyes. His nose was bleeding lightly, and he held up a hand, "Whoa! Calm down dude! What gives?"

A rough and tumble looking thug with a mo-hawk and more metal in his face than was really sanitary loomed over him and grinned. "Prissy boys like you shouldn't be on this side of town, kid. Little nancy punk like you might just get hurt!" he raised a foot to stomp his victim but was suddenly yanked off his feet and spun to the ground.

Dick stood over the punk, holding his arm up at an odd angle, blinking down at him passively. Roy stepped around the two of them, and quickly snatched the thug's wallet out of his back pocket. "Let's see what we have here…"

"Dude! Get offa me!" Mo-Hawk-Boy winced as Dick lifted his arm a bit higher. A few yards away, Gar and Wally were leaning back against the car. They winced when they heard the young man's bones creak.

Roy started pulling things from the wallet, "Hmm. Stanley Smellings. That's a nice name. What's this? An I.D. card for a tech support firm here in town! So you're a nerd too… Condom… it expired last year. I'm guessing you don't use these things much." The punk whimpered as the young man he'd knocked down started to laugh.

Roy continued his abuse, "No cash, one expired debit card, and a movie rental card." Pausing, the red head laughed a little, "And to top all that pathetic-ness off, we have three stubs to an adult theater… for gay porn."

All four super heroes and the bleeding young man all burst out laughing as Dick let the thug go. He growled and turned suddenly, lashing out with a sloppy right hook at Dick's face.

The raven-haired teen stopped the punch with one hand and grabbed the punk by the throat. He was lifted to eye level, and Dick growled out in his best scary-vigilante-that's-gonna-kick-your-head-in voice, "Go home. Now."

As the punk ran down the street, everyone laughed again.

Roy brushed a tear from his eye, "Oh man… that never gets old…"

* * *

The pizza arrived with the last of the guests. Kole and Melvin walked in the front doors, as they already had Titan membership. Landing on the roof (and greeted by Starfire) were Powergirl and Hawkgirl, and coming together in a car that they parked out by the garage were Katan and Gypsy.

The whole lot of them were assembled in the main room, chatting, playing video games, and scarffing down pizza as Jinx and Raven surveyed them from the kitchen. The older girls had segmented off (except Batgirl, who was continually beating every taker on Beast Boy's Game Station) and were talking about their various lives. Some of the younger girls were already in pajamas, and were partaking of the usual slumber party activities of nail painting and gossiping.

Raven sighed, "You think we'll all live out the night?"

"With this much super powered estrogen in one room?" Jinx grinned, "Fat chance. Have you noticed that Jade and Donna are being politely distant to each other?"

"Donna used to date Jade's boyfriend… the Green Lantern."

"Which one?"

"The younger one. Kyle."

"Ah." Jinx chuckled. Raven looked over to where Melvin was looking with suspicious eyes at Argent. The older girl was offering her a bottle and assuring her it was okay.

Quickly floating across the room, Raven snatched the bottle away and sniffed at it, "Toni, why are you trying to give a fourteen year old girl beer? And how did you even get beer in the first place? You're only eighteen."

Argent shrugged, "I know a guy."

"Right." Raven held out a hand, "Hand it over."

Grumbling, the punk girl handed over the six-pack. Melvin smiled up at Raven, "Having a baby, huh? You're terrible with kids, you know."

"I'm a lot better than when I had to baby sit _you_, Melvin."

"I have a new name now, you know."

"Really? This I have to hear."

"It's Imagine." Melvin replied with a smile.

"Did Bobby give you that one?"

"Bobby doesn't exist anymore. He only stayed around until I learned that my powers were to make things from nothing… he was a manifestation of my imagination."

Raven blinked down at her, "Who are you and what did you do with the cute blonde girl I had to save from a giant ape?"

Melvin giggled.

* * *

Beast Boy sipped on a highball glass of scotch as he observed Wally and Roy with dancing eyes. Dick sat nearby, his head in his hands, and a light smile on his face. An open bottle of rum sat in front of him, which he had been sipping off for the past hour. Roy was already thoroughly trashed, having gone through half a fifth of tequila by himself, and Wally seemed to be completely sober despite the high end vodka he kept pouring down his throat.

From their vantage on top of Soto, they could see through the skylights and appreciate all the hot girls, as well as drink for free. They were lounging on one of the AC units, using the warmth it generated from it's mechanical components to ward off the chill in the night air.

The two red heads had been telling stories about Dick for the past half hour now, and Gar was loving every second of it. He knew so little of his mysterious leaders activities before the Titans and the few missions he'd gone on for Batman during the time he'd been with the team. It was amusing as hell to hear the two other young men go on about it.

"So then this guy," Wally was saying, "he says to Dick, 'Got you right where I want you!'"

Roy continued, "Keep in mind that all three of us were thirteen here…"

"Yeah." Wally nodded, "So there's poor Dick, his costume in tatters, bent over this railing and staring down at a vat full of acid, with the absolute most effeminate bad guy ever right behind him, telling him he had him where he wanted him."

Everyone chuckled and Dick's face turned red. Gar arched an eyebrow, "Don't tell me Dick took one for the team?"

"We may rip on him all the time," Roy laughed, "but not even the two of us are that cruel. No, I distracted the guy with a flash bang arrow long enough for Dick to slip away and for Wally to go grab him. After that it was just a simple matter of hitting him with enough tazer arrows to take him down. I must have put seven of those bitches in him."

Gar laughed, "Glad you showed your true colors then, Dick."

"What's that mean?" Dick scowled at him suddenly.

"Hey!" Roy waved a hand, "No getting touchy! We're too drunk for that!"

"You're too drunk for it." Dick shot at him.

Gar held up his hands, "I just meant that you're obviously not gay… I mean, with Raven and everything…"

Silence fell over the four of them, and it was several minutes before Dick spoke up, "I'm really scared."

"I would be too." Wally nodded, "Raven is a little… um… scary."

"Real sensitive man." Gar rolled his eyes.

"Sorry."

"I think what Dick means is that he's scared of being a father." Roy supplied, "Not that I can blame him. It would scare the shit out of me too."

"Yeah." Gar nodded, "I know I'm not ready for that yet."

"I don't think I am either." Dick shook his head, "I lead such a dangerous life… and Raven does too… what are we going to do?"

"One of you will have to stay home with the child at all times-" Wally began.

"One of us should retire." Dick cut him off.

Gar arched an eyebrow, "What? Dick, if it came to that, we know it'd be her… you're the leader for crying out loud…"

"I know… I just don't know how to tell her that I think she should quit a dangerous lifestyle because of the baby… and then tell her that I'm going to keep doing it."

"She might agree with you." Roy shrugged, "I mean, she's a reasonable girl. She'll know that the baby will have to come before her own wants and needs."

"Still…" Dick took another swig of his rum and winced, "Man… this stuff is strong."

"Yeah." Roy held up his bottle, "A toast, gentleman, to Dick Grayson. May he be a great father, and a better hero for many years to come!"

Wally and Gar raised their drinks, and Dick reluctantly did so as well. They all leaned in and clinked them together, then took long drinks.

"Let's go dance." Wally said, and stood up.

* * *

Back at the Tower, the girls finally all convened together, and Jinx stood in the center of all of them. She motioned for everyone to quiet down, and then turned to Raven.

"As we all know, we're here tonight to celebrate the announcement of Raven's pregnancy. As her resident fellow witch and confidant, I'd like to get the ball rolling on this once in a life time party event."

All the girls looked at her with arched eyebrows and wide eyes as Jinx grinned, "So! With no boys present to play spin the bottle with, we have to fall back on the age old slumber party classic of truth or dare!"

Raven groaned as excited chatter broke out. Katana seemed to be the only other one ill at ease with the idea, and as she opened her mouth to protest, Jinx whirled on her, "I know you think you're too old and too grown up for silly games like this one, Tatsu, but you're going to play anyway. In fact, you're going to start."

Katana sighed and nodded her head, "How you talked me into this, I will never know."

"I told you Gypsy was coming." Jinx jerked her thumb at an empty spot that quickly filled as Gypsy became visible again.

"Heh… sorry Tsu!"

"Whatever." Katana rolled her neck and sat up straighter in her red silk pajamas, "Go ahead, Jinx. Do your worst."

The pink haired girl adjusted her own silk boxers and white tank top, "Okay! Everyone shut up and listen!" Silence fell and everyone turned their eyes to the Japanese woman in red, "Truth or dare, Katana?"

"Truth."

Jinx grinned as if she knew that one was coming, "What's the worst you ever screwed up in battle and embarrassed yourself?"

Katana, who had been expecting a question about the first man she'd ever slept with, or her greatest fear, was caught totally off guard. Still, her sense of honor wouldn't let her not answer with the truth, so she blushed lightly and met Jinx's pink gaze.

"Back when I was first starting in the biz, I was scouted for a team of heroes that would go to the root of a problem before it could become a threat. We called ourselves the Outsiders, and our leader was Batman himself."

There was an excited mummer throughout the group. Katana was the oldest one present, and any stories about Batman were bound to be good.

"On our first mission, we were fighting a robotic bull-thing, and as I stepped up to take a swing at it, I totally missed. By like, six inches." She shook her head, "I over balanced, and fell down a slope just as Batman was coming up it. I fell into him, and we both tumbled to the bottom." She grinned slightly and blushed deeper, "I… uh… ended up with my breasts right in his face."

Everyone burst out laughing and Katana shook her head. She looked over to Batgirl and called out, "Barbara! Shall we send this into the realm of pre-pubescent nonsense?"

"Aw, why the hell not." Batgirl grinned, "Lay it on me."

"Truth or Dare?"

"Truth."

"Who was the first boy you ever kissed?"

Babs opened her mouth, then shut it, and shot a glance around the room. Her eyes finally rested on Raven, "Um… truthfully? Heh. It was Robin."

Everyone grew silent and all eyes turned to Raven. She blinked, "What? I already knew. It was years ago!"

The tension seemed to break then, and Babs mopped at her brow. "Okay then! Dinah? You know the question."

Black Canary shrugged, "Truth then."

"Who was the most recent guy you've slept with?"

"Oh, come on!" Huntress motioned to Melvin, "Young ears, you guys!"  
"I'm fourteen, Huntress." Melvin rolled her eyes, "When the things you imagine become real, you tend to have a pretty good idea of how sex works by my age."

There was a beat of silence for a moment, and then everyone laughed. Melvin shook her head, "You're all silly."

"Canary?" Jinx asked from where she'd sat next to Raven.

The blonde woman shrugged, "Green Arrow."

Katana arched an eyebrow, "Isn't he closer to my age they yours?"

"Yep." Canary nodded, "Almost ten years older than me actually. I like my men mature."

"How is Ollie mature?" Batgirl asked with a laugh.

Canary stuck her tongue out, "Donna! Truth or dare?"

The black haired woman wearing gray flannel shorts and a t-shirt with the twin Wonder Woman W's on it smiled passively. "Dare."

"Hmm…" the blonde woman pointed at the corner, "Go flash the security cameras to give Cyborg a good show when he reviews the footage."

Donna grinned, floated up off the ground and to the corner where the hidden camera was. With her back to the assembled group of girls, she lifted her shirt and shook a little. After a moment she dropped her shirt back down, winked up at the camera, then floated back to her place in the circle.

The entire group was howling with laughter as she sat down and poked Jinx. She nodded to the pink haired girl.

"Heh." Jinx wiped tears from her eyes, "Truth."

"Who was the first man you slept with?"

"Kid Flash." Jinx responded without batting an eye, "First and only, thank you very much!"

"Good for you!" Flamebird pumped a fist in the air.

"Indeed!" Starfire smiled at her, "I to have only ever been with Garfield."

Stargirl buried her face in her hands, "Am I the only virgin here?"

"Hell no!" Argent pumped a fist in the air, "I'm there with you sister!"

"Um, hello?" Melvin waved, "Only fourteen over here!"

Marry Marvel also raised a hand, "While I wont lecture anyone on the dangers of promiscuous activity-"

"Can it, Marry." Jinx said and everyone laughed again. Amid the laughing, Jinx turned to Raven, "Truth or dare?"

Raven shook her head with a smile, "Truth."

Jinx's face lost all mirth, "How do you really feel about being pregnant?"

Dead silence met her question, and Raven looked deep into Jinx's pink eyes. After a moment, she looked down at the floor, "I'm scared. I'm frightened for many reasons… primary of which is the fact that my demonic blood could very well turn this child into something twisted and evil. I'm also scared of the life style changes that will come with this, and I'm scared to death that Dick might not come home from a mission some day."

"What about you?" Hawk asked from where she sat next to her sister, Dove.

Raven shook her head, "While I'm sure I can stay here, as of tomorrow I'm handing in my resignation." She smiled in a sad way and a tear leaked down her cheek, "I'm out. I'm officially no longer a Titan."

* * *

Dick sat at the bar of the Soto Dance Club and sipped on a soda. While he was good and buzzed from the rum he'd had on the roof, he was still only nineteen, and couldn't get a beer without a fake ID. As he stared at the wall beyond the bar, Roy plopped down in the seat next to him.

"Hey man." The red head grinned, "Why don't you find a hottie to dance with? This could be your last night of freedom for awhile."

Dick shook his head, "I'm fine. You go ahead."

Roy frowned. Even drunk like he was, he still knew Dick's moods, "Talk to me Dick. We're almost brothers for Christ's sake."

"Yeah…" Dick looked over at him, "You're a good guy, Roy."

"I've been hearing that a lot lately. So what's up? I know you're still freaking about Raven and stuff, but this depressed moping isn't like you."

"I know… it's just… I can't believe we fucked up like this. This kid is going to be a quarter demon, raised by two less than sane people, and thrust into a world of danger and terror from day one. How is that okay?"

"It's not." Roy shook his head, "But it's going to happen… and we've both seen far worse things than this, Dick."

"But what about-"

"Dick, look…" Roy ran a hand down his face, then turned to his friend, "You remember that girl I dated for seven months last year?"

"Yeah. I was surprised you lasted that long in a relationship."

"Well… she had an abortion."

Dick arched an eyebrow, "Was it you?"

"Yeah… I was the only one she was sleeping with… we were both drunk, and it was just… anyway." He stared down at his hands, folded on the bar now, "When she told me, I was scared to death, and then she told me she'd already taken care of it… and that was it. I dumped her the next day."

Dick slung an arm around his friend's shoulder and said, "Sucks man… that shit just…"

"Yeah." Roy looked up at him and smiled halfway, "But it just goes to show you, you know? It's scary… but you already love the kid, don't you?"

Dick took a second to think about that, then nodded, "Yeah… yeah I do."

"And you love Raven, right?"

"More than I can stand."

"Then you're set. The only thing left is to tell Bruce."

"Fuck." Dick slammed his head down into the bar, and Roy laughed.

* * *

It was half past one in the morning when most of the girls finally fell asleep. Almost all of them were used to late nights, so when Jinx had mandated a lights out so they could get up in the morning and make a big breakfast, most of them had had trouble sleeping. After much coaxing and more than a little of Raven's relaxing herbal tea, they were finally down.

Only a few of them remained awake. Sitting in a huddle off in Raven's reading corner were Raven herself, Hawk Girl, Donna Troy, Jinx and Huntress. They were talking in low tones.

Raven frowned, "How was it with Robert, Donna?"

The dark haired Amazon smiled, "The pregnancy was very easy for me, and the delivery was over in just a few hours. Terry was wonderful the whole time."

"Dick will freak." Jinx grinned, "Saving the world on a nightly basis is all well and good for him, but delivering a baby?"

Donna arched an eyebrow, "I personally saw him deliver a baby when he was fifteen."

Everyone's jaws dropped, "Are you kidding?" Huntress looked flabbergasted, "I know Batman puts his kids though the ringer, but teaching them how to deliver a baby?"

"Batman is very… thorough." Raven replied.

"So you've met him too, huh?" Huntress looked sympathetic.

"I dated Robin for almost a year. Of course I met his foster father."

"Huh. Is he a stiff in personal life too?"

"Helena, you have no idea." Raven shook her head with a laugh.

Hawk Girl spoke up, "My delivery was long… almost six hours."

Donna looked over at her, "C-section?"

"Yeah. I healed up quick, but I was off the streets for a few weeks."

"I never knew you had a child." Raven looked curious.

"I gave her up for adoption." Hawk Girl looked away.

"Oh… Kendra…" Jinx grabbed her hand.

"It's okay… I've kept track of her, and she's doing fine… If she ever wants to know, I'll go to her, but for now… it's safer this way."

"It's why Terry took Robert from me and my life." Donna shook her head, "You're doing the right thing by quitting now, Raven."

"Yeah… and I know just who to recommend fill my spot on the team." Raven shoved Jinx lightly, "You'll do great with these guys."

"What?" Jinx pointed at herself, "Me? Hell no."

"Oh come on!" Raven laughed, "You took the communicator already… you're a Titan Jenny. You might as well live like one."

"But… Wally…"

"He's a Titan too. We have twenty extra rooms here at the Tower, and you guys will only need one."

"I'll think about it." Jinx replied with a grin, "But thanks."

"You're my only choice." Raven replied with a return smile.

"We should sleep." Donna said, "Come on. We have to get up early to start breakfast."

* * *

Four young men lay on their backs a grassy hillside outside of Jump City and stared up at the starry night sky. Several empty bottles of liquor were scattered about them, and they all laughed and joked as if they didn't have a care in the world.

"So," Gar grinned in a drunken manner, "I totally told Kori I wasn't go to drink tonight."

Roy burst out laughing until Dick reached over and whacked him. Wally burst out laughing at that, and Dick whacked him too.

"Can it guys… just 'cause you don't have girls to dress you down when you get in all hung over and stuff…"

"Excuse me?" Wally poked Dick in the ribs and the dark haired teen giggled. He was ticklish there. "I do too have a girlfriend."

"Does Jinx really count though?" Roy wondered out loud, "I mean… do you two go on dates and stuff?"

"Sure we do." Wally chuckled, "I guess living out in Keystone really alienates us from the rest of the Titans, but yeah… we live together in an apartment, fight crime together, go out on dates… have _tons_ of _wild_ sex…"

"Heh." Gar pumped a fist in the air, "I can hardly keep up with Kori some times… her race is built for stamina."

"Raven liked it wild _all_ the time." Dick sighed, "I wonder if there's going to be much more of that…"

"Why wouldn't there be?" Roy asked with a stupid grin up at the stars, "I mean, you two are getting back together, right?"

"I don't know." Dick frowned.

"That'd be harsh of her after all this." Gar shook his head, "To not start dating you again… I mean, you two have only recently stopped sleeping together, and the whole avoiding each other like the plague thing was just about to blow the Tower up with all the tension it was creating…"  
"Yeah…" Dick sighed, "Hey Wally… you good to drive?"

"Always."

"Let's head back then. We can sneak in around the girls well enough."

"Alright." The red headed speedster sat up and brushed off his back, and Dick did the same. Gar became a cat, stretched, then became himself again and started for the car.

Roy snored lightly on the grass.

Dick sighed and glanced at Wally, who looked rather frustrated. "I'll get him, Wally. Just start the car."

"Yeah." Wally shook his head and walked to the Charger as Dick stooped down and lifted Roy off the ground.

"Idiot." Dick muttered.

Roy shifted as he was slung across his friends shoulder, and murmured in his sleep, "I didn't mean to put it there Ginger… honest…"

Dick snorted in mirth and walked to the car.

* * *

Wally managed to run Roy to a bedroom at super speed without waking up any of the numerous super powered females in the main room of Titans Tower, and Gar simply turned into a bird and flew to his window from outside. Dick nimbly picked his way through all the sleeping bags scattered along his path from the garage to the elevator that would lead up to the residential levels of the Tower. He had almost made it when a hand shot out and grabbed his ankle. He froze and looked down into the dancing green eyes of Barbara Gorden.

"Hey Babs." He whispered at her, and smiled.

"Hey yourself." She sat up and motioned him down. He crouched and she hugged him firmly, "Way to screw up again, Boy Blunder."

"Hey now…" he pulled away and frowned at her.

Babs lightly slapped his arm, "I'm kidding. Congrats and all that. Raven is actually kind of happy about it."

"You know? I am too."

"Good. When're you gonna tell Bruce?"

Dick rubbed his face, "Tomorrow."

"Good luck. You want me to stick around for backup?"

"I think Gotham will be better with you there to keep Batman from killing every perp he comes across tomorrow night…" Dick looked scared shitless.

Babs giggled and shoved him along, "Go to bed. You stink like tequila."

"Just because Roy spilled it all over me…"

"Whatever. I'll see you in the morning."

"Yeah." Dick leaned in and kissed her cheek, "Night Babs."

"Goodnight, Dick." She kissed his cheek back and let him go. As he vanished into the elevator, she sighed and lay back down. Glancing to her left, she saw Black Canary grinning at her with dancing blue eyes.

"You like him!" she sing songed softly.

"Can it Canary, or the only place you'll be singing is with the choir invisible."

* * *

As he made his way down the hall to his room, Dick rubbed at his eyes. He did smell a lot like tequila (he hadn't been kidding about Roy sloshing it all over him) and he was completely wiped out. He needed sleep, but before he went to bed, he needed to not smell like liquor.

"I need a shower." He said to no one.

"Mine's free."

Dick jumped halfway to the ceiling and whirled around with a hand on his chest, "Chris almighty, Raven! Don't do that!"

Raven was standing in her doorway, smiling in a devilish manner. She was wearing a longish black t-shirt that dropped to just past her waist… and nothing else.

"You're not usually so jumpy." She walked forward a few steps, grabbed his arm and pulled him along, "Come on."

"Where are we going?" Dick arched an eyebrow.

"You said you needed a shower."

"And?"

"I said mine was free."

"I can use my own shower." Dick smiled in a goofy manner. He was still buzzed.

"Yes, but I want to wash my hair, and I don't like your shampoo."

"So we're going to take a shower togeth-"

"Shut up, Dick." Raven pulled him into her room and pushed him into the wall as her door shut. She reached down and stripped off her shirt, standing before him naked. "Take off your clothes, take me to my shower, and fuck me until I scream before we get out and go to bed."

Dick didn't have much to say to that other than, "Wha… herm… okay…"

* * *

An hour later, Raven was laying on her back in her bed and breathing in short gasps as Dick moved above her. They stared into one another's eyes, and their hands roamed each other's bodies. The shower had been brief, but they had practically run to the bed once they had dried off.

"Richard…" Raven whispered as he slowed his tempo, "I really… really want to try to make this work this time…"

"Me too." Dick lowered himself down and continued to move against her as he kissed her neck, "We'll talk more about it in the morning."

"Yeah." Raven held him to her, pressing their bare bodies together, "I love you."

"And I love you."

The clock read 4:07 AM by the time they finally went to sleep.

* * *

Closing Notes: Donna's little speech to Raven comes from the Titans/Young Justice crossover Graduation Day. One of the best lines she's ever had.

Reviews welcome.


	3. Chapter 3

Forward Motion

A Teen Titans Fan Fiction by Jacob McDonald

Opening Notes – I had some serious pacing issues with this chapter. It's hot off the press though, and barely edited, so if there's any mistakes, blame it on my eagerness to post it. I kind of like how it turned out in the end.

* * *

Chapter 3 – Falling Up Again

* * *

Beast Boy stretched and yawned as he walked out of his room. The bed had seemed big and empty without Starfire there, but he knew she had probably enjoyed her first real big slumber party on Earth more. She was with him every other night after all.

As he finished zipping up his uniform front, his sensitive nose caught a wiff of something tasty wafting up from the lower levels. Taking a deep breath he crinkled his nose a little, "Man, Cy's not even here and it _still_ smells like they're cooking four pounds of bacon."

At that very moment a door further down the hall opened up and a disheveled looking Speedy staggered out. He at least didn't smell like he'd been out drinking all night, but he definitely didn't look too hot. The red haired archer stumbled past Beast Boy and moaned, "So… fucking… hung… over…" He covered his mask covered eyes with one hand and used to other to guide himself down the hall by placing it on the wall, "Need… coffee…"

BB laughed and followed in his friends wake.

* * *

Jinx laughed a little as Argent and Flamebird argued over whether Hal Jordan or Kyle Rayner was the hotter Green Lantern, and glanced over at the doors to the elevator as they opened. Speedy staggered out with Beast Boy and there was a sudden yellow and red blur from behind them.

The pink haired witch found her self locked in a steamy kiss with her boyfriend for a full ten seconds before he was speeding away again, "Heybabyhowsyourmorninggoing?" he zipped to the kitchen before she could reply, "I'mgonnagetsomefood!"

Jinx laughed and glanced at the clock on the wall. It was half past nine, and the main room of the Tower was abuzz with super heroes. Most of the girls were still in PJs, but a few of them were back in uniform. Most of the older girls had begged off breakfast, as they had jobs and super heroic things to do. So it was that Jade, Hawk Girl, Katana, Gypsy, Huntress and Power Girl were gone.

In the kitchen, cooking up a storm were Troia, Dove, Melvin (Imagine, Jinx reminded herself) and Super Girl. Pancakes were already stacked up to unheard of heights, heaps of bacon were sizzling, Super Girl was cooking eggs to order for everyone present from a list tacked up by the stove, and Melvin was busy juicing oranges for fresh juice. Dove walked over to pull a tray of biscuits out of the oven, and Super Girl simply floated up from where she was poking at some over medium eggs in her fry pan and let the Champion of Order open the door.

Troia was humming to herself as she cut up various fruits and melons for a side dish when Speedy stumbled into the kitchen. Without missing a beat she reached over and poured him a cup of coffee, handed it to him and turned him back around. "There you go. Drink the first few black."

"Mermph." Speedy replied and walked back out of the kitchen. He paused, turned back to her and arched an eyebrow, "Are you wearing a bra?"

"Nope." Donna grinned.

"Didn't think so. Must be colder in here than I thought."

Troia looked down at herself, blushed, and looked back up with a hand raised and ready to slap the crap out of the archer. She blinked when she saw he was already halfway across the room and greeting Bat Girl and Black Canary.

"Hasn't changed a bit…" she muttered, but smiled in spite of herself as she went back to chopping fruit.

* * *

"Hey Babs. Dinah." Roy flopped down on the couch between them and looked up at the screen they were both intently glaring at. A fierce bout of King of Fighters was raging across the monitor.

"I've so got you cornered." Canary grinned.

"Fist time for everything." Bat Girl replied as she hit a few buttons and called in her second striker, "Eat axe kick, bitch."

"Hey!" Canary pouted as her character was thwacked across the screen. She tossed down her controller as Babs beat her once more. "I'm not playing with you any more."

"Beast Boy is down here somewhere." Speedy noted, "He can give Babs a run for her money."

"Yeah, we'll see." Bat Girl looked over at her fellow red head, "So, how was last night?"

"I dunno. Can't remember most of it."

"You got that drunk?"

"No, but it's kind of private guy stuff. Well, no it's not. We went dancing and we got wasted. Everything else that we _talked_ about is private guy stuff."

"Like what? Which one of us super chicks has the best rack?" Dinah snorted out a laugh.

"Mostly stuff like how Dick is scared shitless about having a baby." Roy replied dryly.

"Oh. That." Canary had the good grace to look sorry, "Uh… how's Ollie been lately?"

"Fine. You'd know better than I would." Speedy grumbled as he blew on his coffee and sipped it.

"Come on, Roy. It's not like I'd try and be your mother or anything if things got serious…"

"Like you could." Roy sighed and shook his head, "You're only what? Four years older than I am?"

"Three." Dinah held up three fingers, "And a half."

"Ollie's a dirty old man." Roy sighed, "My only consolation is that when I'm his age, I will be too."

"So you can nail hot twenty somethings?" Babs giggled.

Black Canary reached across behind Roy and slapped her in the head.

THWACK! "Ow!"

* * *

Beast Boy was shaking his head, "No way. I refuse to believe that Wildcat has _never_ lost a fist fight."

Stargirl laughed, "I know it's hard to believe, but it's true. Ted just doesn't know when to lay down and give up."

"Come on… even Robin has lost a few fights…"

"I'm telling you, Gar, it's true!" she giggled.

"Courtney, I'm going to take your word for it. Partly because you're like, the all American super chick, but mostly because you're a cute blonde, and I never could resist a cute blonde." He winked.

"What about a cute red-head?" she asked, a grin spreading on her face.

"Well," Beast Boy reached up and snagged Starfire's shoulders where she floated above him, "I hate to break it to you Courtney, but cute red heads are actually my favorite. Especially cute alien red heads." He pulled Star down and kissed her upside down, "Morning dear."

Star pulled away and stuck her tongue out at him, "I do not approve of you doing the hitting on of my friends."

"Aw, come on. I knew you were behind me."

"Oh, did you now?"

"Sure. I could smell you."

Star blushed and surreptitiously sniffed at herself, "Perhaps I need a shower?"

Beast Boy rolled his eyes, "You smell great Star. You _always_ smell great. Even after an hour long super baddie beat down you smell great."

"What does she smell like?" Stargirl asked.

"Um…" BB scratched his head, "Kind of like lavender and… stardust."

Stargirl blinked, "Stardust?"

"You'd have to go to Tamaran to understand that one…" Beast Boy grinned and poked Star in her pajama clad side.

Courtney giggled at Star's blush and stood up, "I'm going to see if there's a free shower around here somewhere. You two be gross and cuddle or something."

Hawk walked past, "Yech. Kori how do you stand that tosser?"

"Hey!" BB frowned at her.

From across the room, they heard Jinx shout, _"That's the same thing I asked her last night!" _

Beast Boy shook a fist at her, "Can in Jen, or I'm coming over there as a squid with ink issues!"

* * *

Cyborg stepped out of the T-Car and looked up at Titans Tower West with a sigh. I was almost midday because of the time zone change, so he knew everyone would be up. As he grabbed his duffle out of the car and shut the door, wet footsteps sounded behind him. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Aqualad stepping up to him with a grin.

"Are you sure you're not planning on moving out here?" he asked.

Cy grinned, "Dunno. Maybe."

"Really?"

"Depends, I guess." And Cyborg frowned.

"Uh… this looks heavy." Aqualad motioned for them to walk towards the Tower, "What's up?"

"I… bought a ring."

"Whoa." The black haired Atlantian blinked his black eyes, "Really heavy. Are you nervous?"

"Like you wouldn't believe."

"No worries, Vic. She'll say yes… you know she will."

"Maybe… there's a lot to consider in all of this."

"I think the both of you should stop thinking about what would be best for the Titans, and start thinking about what would be best for your relationship." Aqualad stopped at the front door, "Roy is out in Jump right now for something… Karen won't tell me what. I'm going to call Mas y Menos out for a fake crime of some sort, and that will leave the Tower empty. Sorry it's kind of a tight window, but you'll have maybe two hours to do what you have to."

Cyborg nodded, "Alright… thanks Garth."

"You'd do it for me… if I liked girls, or ever wanted to be tied down to one person…"

Cy grinned and shook his head.

* * *

Raven sat on her bed and bounced her leg in a nervous manner. Robin was just walking out of the bathroom and rubbing sleep from his eyes and she was already preparing to ruin his day. He sat down on the edge of the bed and grinned at her in a stupid manner, "Morning." His eyes roamed her body as she sat there in only a t-shirt.

"Morning… um, Dick? We need to talk."

"Uh oh… what about?" Robin sighed and scooted over next to her. He had a weary look about his face suddenly, and he was preparing himself for bad news.

"Um… here." Raven pulled a folded piece of paper from her bedside table and shoved it at him. Robin took it with a frown and unfolded it, reading the text quickly.

After a moment, he looked back up at her, "You're resigning your position as a Titan?"

"Yes." Raven smiled slightly, "Owing to the fact that I'm pregnant, and don't think someone in my condition, or a new mother, should be fighting crime."

Robin nodded, "Will you hate me for telling you I was going to ask you to do it anyway?"

"No." Raven shook her head, "We both know it has to be me."

"I'm sorry. I know you have several good reasons for being a Titan, and taking that away from you…"

"I'm giving it up on my own." Raven leaned in and kissed his cheek, "Now come on. Let's go see our friends."

"Right." Robin nodded and stood up, holding a hand out to her, "Let's get dressed."

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, the doors to the main room opened and the birds stepped out. A hush fell over the room as various super heroes stopped eating their breakfasts and looked up. After a moment, Speedy noticed the two young lovers were holding hands and blushing. He stood up and raised his voice and his juice glass.

"Attention, everyone! I'd like to propose a toast… to Dick Grayson and Raven Roth. May they be as good at parenting as they are at scowling, fighting crime, hiding in the dark, and being the best damn friends any of us have ever had. Cheers!"

Everyone in the room raised a glass and echoed, "Cheers!" They all sipped, and as they put their glasses down, Batgirl shouted, "Come on, Dick! Kiss her already!"

Robin, in full uniform, grinned and dipped Raven back. She was wearing jeans and a black t-shirt, and a blush tinted her cheeks as he smiled at her, "Like we're getting married or something…"

"I don't believe in marriage." Raven deadpanned.

Robin grinned wider, "Thank God…" and he kissed her. Raven wrapped her arms around his neck and the room cheered.

* * *

"So how've you been?" Donna asked Robin as she piled sausages and bacon on his plate. Raven sat next to him at the kitchen's bar, sipping her morning tea.

"Not bad." Robin motioned around, "I've got a great place to live, an awesome team, a sexy girlfriend…" he grinned, "Life couldn't be better."

"Huh." Donna grinned over his shoulder, "What's up, Babs?"

The red haired Bat Girl leaned in and kissed Robin's cheek, "I've got to get back to Gotham. The last thing we need is for Batman to be going ape shit on muggers and petty thieves tonight because he's so pissed off that his son knocked up some creepy goth chick."

"Love you to, Babs." Raven rolled her eyes.

Robin sighed, "Why do you and Roy delight in reminding me that I have to call Bruce yet?"

"Because then maybe you'll do it." Speedy stepped up next to Raven, "I have to head back out to the East Coast as well. I can give you a ride, Babs."

"Oh, you just love saying that, don't you?" Bat Girl rolled her eyes, "Fine. I'll get my stuff."

"Sweet." Speedy glared at Robin, "Don't forget."

"I won't."  
The red haired archer looked over at Raven, "Make him do it."

"I will."

"Thanks." He nodded to them and grinned, "See you kids later… from what BB tells me, I'm needed back at Steel City ASAP."

As he walked away, Robin looked over at Raven, "You have any idea what he's talking about?"

"Not a clue. Donna?"

"Nope. But if you want to know, you could always just ask Gar." She pointed across the room to where Beast Boy was cracking jokes with Flamebird and Starfire.

"After breakfast." Robin grinned, "Hey, Donna? Get Raven some pancakes… she's eating for two now, you know…"

* * *

Later that day, after all the super heroines had left, only two Titans not from Jump remained in the Tower. Robin found Kid Flash and Jinx sitting in the living room, laughing together about something.

"What's so funny?" he asked as he stepped in front of them where they were seated on the couch.

"Wally was just telling me about your little stunt with the thug outside the club last night." Jinx snorted with laughter again, "Gay porn…"

"Heh." Robin shook his head with a smile, but grew serious quickly, "Hey look… Wally, Jen… Raven gave me her resignation this morning."

"Whoa." Kid Flash sat up, "So she did do it before you could ask."

"Yeah. She left a subscript though… her recommendations for replacement." He looked at them with a meaningful expression, "She wants you to take her place Jen, and she's recommending that I give you the option to move out here to Jump as well, Wally."

Jinx nodded, "I know. She told me last night."

Kind Flash blinked at her, then frowned, "And when were you going to tell me about this?"

"I didn't know if Robin would even accept the transfer." Jinx shook her head, then looked over at the masked leader of the Titans, "Are you?"

"Yes. Raven's opinion has always meant a lot to me, even when she wasn't my girlfriend. Her judgment is sound, and her reasoning is solid. She wants another magic user to fill her spot, and she thinks you'll be happier out here if Wally is with you," he grinned, "even if he can just run here in a matter of seconds."

"I don't know…" Jinx shook her head again, "It's… a big move. Dick, I'm not exactly the broad daylight, charge into the fray, kick the bad guy butt kind of girl…"

"I know." He nodded, "Raven never really was either, even though she did learn to pitch in when we needed her." Robin sat down beside Kid Flash and nudged him, "That's why I was hoping Wally would move out here as well. If there's one thing the Titans West have been lacking, it's speed. If we have him to fill in the roster, then I can utilize you, Jen, for… other missions."

"What kind of missions?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.

Robin sighed, "I'll be blunt. We need a covert operative, and you're positioned in a good spot… even if we trust you, the bad guys still see you as straddling the fence right now… we could use your underworld street cred to our advantage."

"Wait a second…" Kid Flash held up a hand, "That's… really dangerous, Dick."

"I know." He nodded, "And there wouldn't be any back up. You'd be on your own until we could get an exfil team in for you… again, with a Flash on our roster that wouldn't be too hard, but there's always that chance… Jinx, this is the hardest thing I've ever asked a Titan to do… well, short of saving the universe, but you get the point."

Jinx lowered her eyes to the floor and stared hard for a moment, "Can you give me some time to think about it?"

"Of course." Robin stood up.

"Now wait a second!" Kid Flash looked over at his girlfriend with wide eyes, "You can't be seriously considering this!"

"I am, Wally." Jinx looked up at him with hard pink eyes.

"But… Jen, this is… you could get killed!"

"How is that different from doing what I do now? Hiding in the shadows and cleaning up the scum from the streets… Wally, I have the power and the ability to run with the big dogs… I'm a Titan, for Christ's sake! I'm sick of beating up muggers and pimps!"

"You do good by beating up muggers and pimps. Jen, we talked about this, and-"

"And you expect me to lie around the apartment and only go out a few nights a week to actually work, while you're off saving the world every other day! How do you think I feel when I hear on the news that an inter-dimensional worm hole just opened in the middle of Kansas and the Flash and Kid Flash are there trying to close it? Or when a tidal wave is about to destroy the Eastern Sea Board and Kid Flash is there trying to steal its speed so it won't crush the nation's capital! Or when-"

"Okay!" he threw his hands up, "I get it!"

"No, I don't think you do." She stood up and started to march away, "It's my life, Wally! You can't tell me how to live it!"

"Jen, come on! I'm not trying to… damn it all Jen, will you stop and listen to me! Dick, help me out here!" he turned to his friend, but blinked in confusion.

Robin was gone.

* * *

It was mid-day before Speedy landed his T-Ship pod in the hidden hanger of the Batcave. The pod slid open and as Batgirl jumped down, the archer leaned over the side of the cockpit. "You sure you're going to be okay?"

"I'm fine, Roy." The red haired girl replied with an eye roll, "It's his life… my little crush on Dick will fade with time, I'm sure."

"Okay, Babs." Speedy sat back and looked over her shoulder. He paled and shrank back a little, "Uh… hey there Bruce."

Batgirl whirled around and stared with wide eyes at a fully costumed Batman. He stared at her for a moment, then nodded at Speedy, "Harper."

"Uh… sorry about butting into the Cave… Alfred gave us clearance to land so I could drop Babs off…"

"I know." The Dark Knight turned his glare on Batgirl again, "Where were you last night?"

"Uh… Jump City."

"Why?"

She sighed expressively and did something Speedy had never seen anyone do in his entire life as a crime fighter; she marched past Batman and scowled right back at him, "It's really none of your damn business what I do, Bruce."

"I needed your help last night."

"And I'm sorry I wasn't available. You should have called someone else."

"I had to call Clark."

"Then I'm sure whatever needed doing was done better than I could have done it in the first place."

"He wanted to talk about why I've been avoiding League meetings lately."

"So? Did you?"

His glare was enough on an answer.

"Fine. Be that way." Batgirl turned to Speedy and waved, "Thanks for the lift, Roy. I'll see you around."

Speedy took that as his cue to leave. "Sure! See ya! Um… I'll see you later too, Bruce."

Batman glared at him.

Speedy closed his cockpit and kicked the thrusters on.

* * *

Cyborg stepped into the medical lab of the Titans East Tower and looked around, "Karen?" He called out.

The young woman poked her head around a bank of computers on the far side of the lab and he eyes lit up, "Sparky!" she shouted, and ran over towards him. She was out of uniform, wearing a violet top and blue jeans, with a white lab coat over them. She had glasses on her face and her hair was tied back in a pony tail.

As she made it up to her boyfriend, the Titans East leader threw her arms around him and kissed him soundly. After a moment, she pulled away and stood before him with a huge grin, "What brings you all the way across the country today? Don't tell me it was just to see little ol' me?" she batted her eyes.

"Actually, it pretty much was." Cy grinned back.

"Really? Aw!" she punched his arm lightly, then winced, "Ow."

"Silly Bee." He grinned at her, "What'cha working on?"

Bumble Bee motioned for him to follow her as she walked back to her computers, "I'm testing a vaccine for avian flu. It's kind of been my pet project for a few months now."

"Awesome." He looked over her figures and current data. With a frown he pointed out a few key numbers, "Not doing so hot, huh?"

"They didn't cure smallpox in a day, Vic."

"I guess not. So other than your absurd hobby of curing diseases, how have things been?"

"Pretty good. I'm down a man right now, so having you out here is a real help."

"Yeah, Garth told me Roy was in Jump. What's he doing out there?"

"He didn't say. Just said it had something to do with Robin needing his help."

"Huh." Cy shrugged, "Whatever. Hey, uh… I need to ask you a question."

"Yeah? Go ahead and ask!" Bee turned back to her readouts as she listened to him.

"Um…" Cy paused and looked around at the sterile white environment, then at her hardly paying attention to him, "Do you… uh…"

"What is it?" Bumble Bee looked over at him with annoyance on her face, "Spit it out, Sparky."

Cy sighed, then brightened up, "Would you let me make you some lunch?"

* * *

Starfire alighted on a building top and giggled as a green sparrow landed on her shoulder and tweeted at her. A moment later, Beast Boy was standing next to her and grinning. "How's your patrol going?" he asked as he sat down on the edge of the building.

She floated up, and sat down next to him. "Things are quiet. I do not think we will see any action this day."

"Me either." They were quiet for a short while, then he spoke again, "So what do you think about Raven being pregnant?"

Star grinned widely, "I may be of a slightly differing opinion due to my origins, but I believe that bringing new life into this world is the single most wondrous accomplishment of a woman's life. It is something to be celebrated."

"Heh." BB nodded, "Yeah, I guess that's true. It's not like they can't afford it, and I mean… hell, Dick and Raven will be great parents, you know?"

"If Richard remains alive." Star frowned, "I worry for him. He will either continue to be just as reckless as he always is, or he will grow too cautious, thinking of his child at all times."  
"How can you be too cautious?" Beast Boy laughed.

Star shook her head, "I am being serious, Garfield. He could hesitate to leap into a dangerous situation, and that moment's hesitation may be all an enemy needs to fire a weapon, or get into a more combat ready position. It may also be all the time it takes for an unforeseen contingency to arise, and with the work we do, that could end up costing the lives of many, many people."

BB frowned, not used to seeing his girlfriend so grim, "Kori… that's… pretty dark coming from you. What gives?"

She shook her head, "I do not think he should continue to work in the field." She sounded almost angry.

"Hunny? What's up? Talk to me."

Star leaned into him and sighed, "I was nine furmblogs old when the news came that my father had been grievously wounded in battle. For another three days, we received no word of him, and on the forth, a message came saying that he was in serious condition, but that he would live. He was never able to walk without a staff after that."

"That must have been a long three days." BB frowned and hugged her with one arm.

"It was. Especially when you consider that on Tamaran, a day is as long as thirty-seven Earth hours. Our binary star system causes strange sunrises."

"Heh. I bet." He shook his head, "So you're worried that he'll get hurt?"

"Or killed." Star nodded, "For three days I held out hope, and for three days, Blackfire told me that having hope was foolish. That the Citadel did not take prisoners, and that if he was wounded by them, he was as good as dead…" she sighed, "I had started to believe her by the third day. I therefore remember what it is like to have one's father die… even though mine still lives to this day."

"Yeah… I kind of remember that feeling too." Beast Boy frowned, "Damnit… now I'm all bummed out. You know what would make me feel better?"

"I do not wish to have sex with you right now." Starfire smiled and pinched his side lightly. Beast Boy still yelped and jumped away.

"Actually, I was going to suggest pie and ice cream. You're the one that thought of sex."

"Not as much as you do." Star floated up off the roof, "You are what Raven calls a 'Horny Bastard.'"  
"Raven's called me a Horny Bastard?"

"Friend Jinx called you that many times last night." Star grinned.

"Oh really? What else did she say about me?" Beast Boy stood up and planted his fists on his hips.

"You will have to catch me to discover that." Star laughed, her good mood restored, "Catch me if you can, Lar'gatal!"

As she flew off, Beast Boy grinned, "I am the luckiest damn horny bastard on the face of the planet." A half second later, a hawk was swooping off after the alien princess as she zoomed between sky scrapers.

* * *

Raven opened her eyes slowly, and glared across from where she floated on the roof. Jinx was sitting with her legs pulled up to her chin and her big pink eyes brimming with tears. The dark Titan sighed, "What is it, Jennifer?"

"Wally and I had a fight." She sniffed.

Raven rolled her eyes and floated over to sit in front of her friend, "About what?"

"He doesn't want me to move out here."

"Why not?"

"Because of the kind of missions Dick wants me to do."

Raven narrowed her eyes and Jinx felt the temperature drop several degrees around them, "Exactly what kind of missions are those?"

"Um…" Jinx backed away a little, "I'm guessing he didn't discuss it with you…"

"I let him know my feelings on the matter of your transfer. We didn't discuss deployment details."

"Sheesh…" Jinx rolled her eyes this time, "You and Robbie make it sound like we're the fuckin' army or something…"

"Glad to see you're getting some of your spunk back." Raven didn't look glad at all, "Now what does Dick want you to do?"

"Covert, undercover type stuff."

"Hmm." Raven frowned, "While I don't necessarily like it, the tactical advantages of having you in that kind of position are impossible to ignore. He made a good call."

"I know." Jinx frowned as well and looked down at the rooftop, "Back in the HIVE, we learned to make plans on top of plans and to always have a backup. We learned to squeeze every advantage we could, because you hero types always had so many strengths. So I see how it would be good, and Dick was trained by Batman, so of course he sees it. You see it because you're brilliant in every way possible-"

"Flattery gets you no where, Jinx." Raven didn't smile.

"Hush, and take the complement." Jinx poked her friend and Raven swatted her hand away. "Any way, the problem is that Wally wasn't trained to look at things in a tactical sense. While he is really smart, and he has a huge heart, he's not a leader, and he's not a tactician. He doesn't see things like we do."

"Have you tried explaining it to him?"

"Of course." Jinx looked glum, "He just rants about danger and not wanting me to get hurt."

"I sense this isn't what has you upset. He would get over it, and you know that."

Jinx squirmed, "Okay… fine. I think he's worried that if I go undercover… that I might fall of the horse, as it were. Go back to being a naughty little witch."

Raven shook her head, "Are you sure you wouldn't?"

"Raven!" Jinx looked hurt.

"Look inside Jenny. Do you think that's what Wally is really worried about… or what _you_ are really worried about."

Jinx continued to stare at the roof, and Raven sighed. "I'm going to go speak with Robin. Think on things, and when you need to talk again, you know how to find me." Raven frowned as she stood up, then melted into a pool of shadows at her feet.

Jinx fell back and lay flat as she stared up at the clear blue sky. She held up one hand and watched as pink energy crackled around it for a moment. "Bad luck charm." She muttered, "Aw… hell."

* * *

Bumble Bee watched as Cyborg served her up a plate of spaghetti, "Wow… not your usual meat filled wonder…" she grinned.

"You're fridge is empty." Cy rolled his eye, "How do you guys stay fed?"

"Roy does all the cooking. Don't know what we'd do without him."

"Hmm." Cy frowned, "What would you do without him?"

Bee frowned back, "Why? Is Robin poaching him for Jump? Oh, that bastard! Is this what that frantic call Speedy gave me was about? Something about Robin needing to see him right away?"

"I don't know what that was about," Cy held up his hands in a defensive manner, "I was just asking."

"Oh." Bee poked at her food as Cyborg joined her with his own plate, "I dunno. I guess we'd have to replace him… or at least fill his spot. Tactically we'd need another ranged fighter, but on a personal level… no one can replace Roy."

"Heh… yeah, I guess." Cy sighed, "You know, I didn't just come out here to make you lunch."

"I figured as much. Did you really miss me that much?"

"Kinda. I… uh…" he swallowed, "We need to talk."

Bee froze, a fork full of spaghetti half way to her mouth, "What? Vic… are you breaking up with me?"

"What?" he looked at her like she was crazy, "Karen, no! Why would I… that's just stupid! Or I'd be stupid if I… oh, you know what I mean!"

Bee glared at him for a second, then burst out laughing, "Yeah, okay… so what do we need to talk about?"

Cy cleared his throat, then stood up. He walked around the table and held out a hand, "Come with me." He instructed. She took his hand with a curious expression on her face. He led her across the living room, set up so much like the one back in Jump with large windows facing out over the sea. This common room was closer to the water however, and the spray from the waves moistened the bottom half of them. With the mid-day sunlight streaming in, it was beautiful.

As the two Titans stood there, hand in hand in front of the windows, Cy slowly lowered himself to one knee. Bee caught her breath in the back of her throat as he held up one hand, a tri-stone engagement ring between his massive fingers. Even on one knee he was just as tall as she was, so he was able to look her right in the eye when he spoke.

"I must be crazy, 'cause there's no way a girl like you would say yes to a guy like me, but Karen you make me more happy than anything else in the world. I know the whole Titan thing is going to get in the way, but I really think we can make this work, and-"

"Yes." She said.

"And… what?"

"I said yes. Victor Stone, I will marry you." And she held out her left hand, a look of total wonderment on her face.

Cyborg grinned broadly, and slid the ring onto her finger. They both stared at it for a few moments, then at each other. Their eyes locked, and they prepared to hurl themselves into one another's arms.

And then the doors to the elevator wooshed open. Speedy can strolling in, a bag slung over one shoulder, "Hey!" he called out, looking around, "Karen! Vic! I saw the car down in the garage! Boy have I got some wild news for the two of you!" His eyes finally rested on the two of them over by the windows, glaring at him. Eyes widening behind his mask, he dropped the bag and it hit the ground with a sound of glass bottles clinking together. "Oh." He said, "Guess you have some pretty big news for me too…"

"Harper," Bee said in a tone that almost made the young man pee himself, "Get. Lost."

Speedy fled as Cyborg and Bumble Bee kissed each other tenderly.

* * *

"You should talk to Wally." Raven said as she went over some files displayed on the laptop screen in front of her on recent Brotherhood activity in Europe, sent to them by Argent a few days before. Robin sat at the other end of the couch from her, massaging her feet as he leaned his maskless head back with his eyes closed. He was still in uniform, but had taken off the mask while he was talking to his girlfriend.

"It's something they have to work out on their own." He replied.

"No, it's something you have to take the time to explain to Wally." Raven shot back, and clicked another file, "He doesn't understand, and you need to assure him you'll do everything in your power to make sure she doesn't relapse."

"He knows she won't." Robin scowled at nothing.

"Yes, but he needs to hear that from you, Dick. You're one of his oldest friends, and he trusts your judgment."

Robin sighed, "I guess. Okay, I'll talk to him. How's Jinx holding up?"

"She's worried she might relapse."

Robin snorted in laughter, and Raven had to grin a little, "I know."

"Maybe we should try trading. I'll work on Jinx, you talk to Wally."

"No can do." Raven replied, "I'm retired. You're the leader, you do it."

"If you're not a Titan anymore, maybe you shouldn't be going over our case files."

"If you really want to do it yourself, I'll let you. Just don't stop rubbing my feet."

"Heh." Robin opened his eyes, "So does this make you my Super-Secretary?"

"Super-Administrative-Professional, thank you." Raven sniffed.

Robin laughed out loud.

* * *

Kid Flash was throwing rocks at the bay and watching them skip so fast they left vapor trails when Beast Boy found him. The green changeling dropped from the sky as a sparrow and landed in his human form next to the speedy teen, "Hey Wally. Why so glum?"

From his perch on the Tower's north sea wall, Kid Flash replied, "Because my girlfriend isn't the hottest alien chick on the planet."

Beast Boy laughed, "Well, I do have a corner on that market, but being evasive doesn't work on me. I'm too thick headed." He knocked on his own head, "What gives?"

Kid Flash shrugged, "Robbie wants Jinx and I to move out here and join you guys in the Tower."

"So? The Flash can handle his business just fine. You've been running solo for almost a year now, and you can head out to help him in like, five seconds no mater where he is in the world."

"I know." The fastest teen alive still sounded glum.

"Dude, I think this move would be good for the two of you. Get away from your old digs, set up shop with a bunch of awesome new roomies…"

Kid Flash grinned at that, "Yeah, okay. But still… Robbie wants Jinx to start doing undercover type stuff. Dangerous stuff."

"Dude, I totally slapped your girlfriend off a fifteen story building once and she came back two minutes later and kicked my ass. She's not going to be in that much danger."

"I'm worried though." He shook his head, "They think I don't realize it, but I know Jenny, and I know there's a chance she could be tempted. She still shoplifts candy bars for crying out loud."

"That's a far cry from robbing banks, but okay." Beast Boy laughed.

"You know what I mean." Kid Flash frowned, "I saved her from that once, man. I don't know if I have it in me to see her go back to it… I don't think I could save her again."

"Wally…" Beast Boy sighed, "Listen. You're talking to a guy who's ex tried to kill all five of us out here on the west coast. And when she showed even the slightest bit of a glimmer of regret, I was ready to dive into a lake of lava to bring her back." He shook his head and got a little choked up, "I still don't think I did enough."

"You have Kori now, Gar." Kid Flash slapped his friends back, "Terra would love that."

"Yeah, she would." Beast Boy nodded, "My point though," he said, wiping his eyes and turning back to his friend with a sniff and a hard smile, "is that you're in love with Jenny. Like, birds singing, little hearts popping over your head love. You'd go to the end of the world to save her."

Kid Flash nodded and chucked another stone, "Yeah. Yeah, you're right." He smiled, "Guess I should find her and tell her."

"You do that. In the mean time, I've got a date with a veggie burger."

* * *

Speedy was sitting in a position very similar to Kid Flash, on the other side of the country. He too was throwing rocks at the ocean, but his kept flying back at him. After a few minutes of unsatisfying rock tossing, he just shouted, "Damn it all Garth! Get your gilled ass up here or I'm shooting and arrow at you next!"

A few seconds later, Aqualad was splashing up next to him with a grin, "What's up, Roy? You're looking all uncharacteristically serious again."

"Dick knocked up Raven and Vic and Karen are getting married." The red haired archer replied with a straight face.

After a few minutes of silence, Aqualad spoke up, "Damn."

"Shit yes, damn."

"What are we going to do about it?"

"Nothing." Speedy stood up, "I sorted out Robin yesterday, and but this time a week from now, either Cyborg will be our newest roommate, or I'll be leading the Titans East."

"Why would you get to be the leader?" Aqualad rolled his eyes, "I think I'd be a much better leader than you."

"Great hair does not a leader make, Garth."

"But I can breath underwater!"

"Yeah? I can make tactical calls in a pinch and, oh yeah, fill your finned butt full of ten arrows in four seconds."

"Heh." Aqualad grinned, "So? What's your plan? I know you have one."

"I'm going to get my fake ID, go into town and get wasted."

"Um… okay. I'll hold down the fort."

"You do that." Speedy slapped him on the back, "Just don't gay up the place while I'm gone."

"You're such a fucking hater."

"You're such a fucking… fish."

"Ha! I win!"

"Fuck you, Garth."

"HA!"

* * *

Robin sighed as he punched up a com window and sat his mask next to him at his desk in his room. The computer blipped on and Batman's face appeared, "Yes?"

"Already in the cowl huh? Don't you take that thing off when you're just sitting around the cave?" Robin leaned forward and smiled.

"I was going out."

"It's only ten after five there." The young man frowned, "Batman shouldn't be showing up for another five hours."

"I have things to do."

"I can call back if it's important-"

"It's always important, and I'm always busy. Is this about why Barbara was with Harper this morning?"

"Oh… uh, yeah." Robin frowned, "Look, Bruce, could you loose the mask? This is kind of… father and son type stuff."

Batman reached up and lowered his cowl. Robin saw he had an arched eyebrow, "Dick, if you need help…"

"I do… um… in a financial sense."

"I provide you with a healthy allowance, and you have access to several accounts for operational details."

"I know… I need…" he swallowed hard then looked away, "You remember Raven?"  
"Your ex-girlfriend. Your team mate."

"Yeah… we got back together."

"I think a winter wedding would be best for her complexion."

"Thanks, Bruce. We're not getting married." Robin rolled his eyes.

"Then what? You need money because-" he stopped then narrowed his eyes, "Dick, are telling me this is a father and son conversation because I'm going to be a grandfather?"

Robin sighed again, "You're too damn perceptive."

"How long have you known?"

"A day."

"At least you're calling right away." Batman shook his head, "This is going to complicate your life, Dick. I raised you from when you were ten. You were able to pick up the life at an early age… earlier than any other partner I've ever heard of. This child though… raising an infant into this?"

"Plenty of super heroes have kids, Bruce."

"And Raven?"

"She wants to keep it." Robin looked firm, "So do I. We want… a family."

Batman was silent for a time, then nodded, "I'll tell Alfred as soon as we finish here."

"What about going out?"

"It can wait." Batman almost smiled. Almost. "This is more important."

"Thanks Bruce. Now… I was thinking about that division of Wayne Enterprises that we made. Grayson Security Consulting?"

"I could get you some low key defense contracts… and an actual staff."

"That's what I was thinking. Here…" he punched up some flies to send, "I've made notes…"

* * *

"Hey baby." Kind Flash leaned down and kissed Jinx's cheek where she sat at the edge of the Tower's roof. "How are you holding up?"

"Just… thinking." Jinx replied, "About the transfer."

"Me too."

She looked at him, "Look, I know it would be dangerous and everything, but I think I really want to do it, Wally. I want to try and make a real difference, and-"

"I think you should do it too. And I'm moving out here with you."

She blinked her pink eyes at him, "Oh." Slowly, fear crept up onto her face, "I'm… worried though."

"About what?"

"Falling back… becoming bad again." She sighed and leaned on him, "I'm tempted every day, Wally. It's not that I'm a bad person… I just like free stuff."

He laughed, "Jenny, you won't go back. You're stronger than that."

"But… the power… controlling people is…" she shook her head, "I can't explain it. I love it."

"Trust me. I know." He grinned, "It's a good thing I can just vibrate my way out of handcuffs…" Jinx swatted his arm.

"Behave. My head is just so full of what ifs…"

"Don't worry about it. Jenny… if you start to revert, I'll just have to pull you back again. Just like last time."

She leaned back and looked into his eyes, "You… really love me don't you?"

"Jen, I'm never giving up on you. And yes, I really do love you."

She grinned, "Love you too. So we're moving to California?"

"Hell yes." And they kissed.

"Good." Both teens jumped a little and separated. They looked behind them and saw Raven. "I'll tell Robin." And she teleported away.

"Bitch." Jinx stuck out her tongue.

_"I heard that."_ Raven's voice echoed in her head.

Jinx had the grace to look contrite.

* * *

Raven appeared in Robin's room. She quickly found him at his computer, "Jinx and Wally are joining us. Whatever you said to him really worked."

Robin didn't look away from the screen, "I didn't say a word to him."

"What?" Raven frowned, "He had a pretty big change of heart then."

"I said I didn't talk to him. I delegated it to Beast Boy."

"Beast Boy convinced him?" Raven sounded flabbergasted, "Why would you do that?"

Robin looked at her with an annoyed expression, "Because unlike some former members of this team, I happen to believe in Beast Boy."

Raven was slightly taken aback, "Oh." She said, "I had no idea you felt that I was undervaluing him."

"You've been doing that for years. He's grown into quite a leader and insightful person in spite of it. Or maybe because of it."

"I'm missing something aren't I?"

"BB has lived to meet your expectations for years, Raven. It's how he judges his own success."

"My, expectations? What about yours?"

"Mine too, but he measures his worth by yours. You've always treated him like such a kid."

"He is a…" Raven trailed off, "Oh my Goddess… when did Beast Boy grow up?"

"Like, a year ago. Guess you missed it." Robin rolled his eyes.

"No kidding." Raven walked over and glanced at the screen, then did a double take, "Is that a Power Point presentation?"

"Yeah."

"Um… why?"

"Bruce wants me to present a ten year business model to the board of directors at WE on Thursday. Grayson Security Consulting is moving up in the world."

"So you talked to him. How did he take it?"

"He's pissed, but helpful. I'm going to need to put in some time on this whole running a business thing at least twenty hours a week, but I'll be fine. He took it better than I'd hopped he would, really."

"That's good." Raven nodded, "I called STAR Labs. I have an appointment with Dr. Charles tomorrow at 10:00."  
"That's good too." Robin smiled and stood up, "I don't think I'm going out tonight. We'll let Jinx and Kid Flash cover for me while we spend some more time together." He winked, "We have to start thinking about names."

"Oh no…" Raven moaned and buried her face in her hands, "You're going to be one of those sappy pandering fathers aren't you?"

"Better than your dad." Robin deadpanned.

"Heh." Raven looked up, "You've got a point there."

* * *

Speedy downed the last of his scotch and held up a finger for the bartender to pour him another. He was dressed in civilian clothes, and sitting at the bar of a mostly deserted pub in a nicer part of Steel City. As the bartender came over with his next drink, he asked, "Girl trouble?"

"Man," Speedy smiled in a helpless way, "I'm having trouble with all my friend's girls. I can't seem to land one myself."

"Oh?" the barkeep started washing a few cups, "What's wrong?"

"One's pregnant and the other is getting married."

"Oh, ouch." The man grinned, "No more poker night for you."  
"You ain't kidding." Speedy grinned back.

"Um… Speedy?"

The archer started at the use of his code-name. Turning on his stool, he observed the brown haired girl he'd been on a date with the night before, "Cindy?" he looked flabbergasted, "How'd you find me?"

"I just recognized your voice." She replied, "And your eyes are blue."

"That they are." He held out a hand, "Roy Harper." She shook it and looked him dead in the eye. When she spoke, his eyes grew wide and confused.

"Nice to meet you Roy. I need your help and you owe me, so let's go."

* * *

Closing Notes – The next chapter will be almost all about Roy's adventures with Cindy. I've had their fun little romp in my head for months and months, and I'll be glad to finally see how it turns out. Hopefully it'll take me less than a year to write it.


End file.
